A Heart in the Dark
by Kiara32
Summary: Jayden's heart is finally mending 2 years after she was separated from Dark, but now, due to an emergency, Vitani's Pride must return to Pride Rock and seek help. Jayden is terrified that Dark has forgotten her, or worse, has a new love interest. How can Jayden watch the only lion she's ever loved love someone else? Will she cope, or will her heart be forever lost in the dark?
1. Pride

**Hello! This is so exciting, isn't it? Well I do have a few things to say before we start the story, so please read them first. I'll make it quick.**

**First, you MUST read my TLK3: Royal Journey and TLK4: A Single Step stories before you read this story. So if this is the first time you've read any of my stories, STOP READING NOW.**

**For all you returning readers, welcome back! Please read on!**

**I'd like to briefly point out, this story is a bit different from my previous two stories. There are many differences, but I'll just point out the major ones. First, it will be shorter, Second, it's only from one character's point of view (Jayden, Vitani's daughter). Third, there is no major enemy as there is in the first TLK movies, and in my two fan fictions. This means there won't be as much fighting and action.**

**If any of this is making it sound like you might not like my story, then don't read it. That's all I can say. This is not a TLK5 story. It's sort of an "inbetween" or "mini" or "side" story. But be aware that if I do a TLK5 story, it will not have a huge fight scene either. If you were reading my stories for the action, you may stop reading now, or otherwise, please don't write me upset or complaining-type comments.**

**Something else I'd really like to address: I get a lot of comments like, "Where's Simba?" "There wasn't enough Kovu." "Where are the canon characters, they disappeared!" etc etc. Please understand, this is a FANFICTON. The canon characters are becoming less important as the new characters grow. That makes sense doesn't it? This is another case where if you were reading my stories for the canon characters, then stop now.**

**Last year I had a bit of trouble with a particular person who was stealing my story. First, they literally copy and pasted my story and uploaded it under their name. After I kindly asked them to remove it, they just made a new account and did the same thing. After I kindly asked them to remove it again, they started re-writing my story. Just changing some phrasing and a few words. Anyway, this goes on and on for a while, with the girl making about 3-4 accounts stealing my story over and over. The thievery has now stopped, but I just wanted to let everyone know that I would really appreciate if you could watch out for any new or old thieves stealing my stories. Please alert me as soon as possible if you see someone who's stolen my story. Thank you.**

**A few things about comments/reviews. I'd like everyone to be aware that I will be ignoring all "hurry up!" and "this story is too slow!" type comments. They aren't very polite, and will not make me feel like I need to hurry myself up. Would you want to read a story that was obviously rushed, and possibly destroyed? Nope.**

**Also, I'm not taking any suggestions for the story's plot, but thank you!**

**Credit for the title of this story goes to PurpleJadePrincess on Deviant art .com Thank you! Credit for the story's temporary Cover page goes to Kohu-art on DA. Speaking of Deviant art, I upload a lot of my art there. There's an entire folder dedicated to my fan fictions, so please see it! The link to my page is on my bio, just click my name, Kiara32 to go to my bio. Thank you!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Lion King characters or locations, but I do own my original characters, please do not steal them, or their likeness. Do not steal the story's plot.**

**Now read!**

* * *

A Heart in the Dark

Chapter 1: Pride

Jayden turned to her left side for what must have been the fourth time in the last ten minutes. Maybe _this_ time the left side will be more comfortable.

It wasn't. Jayden sighed, moved her head to her paws, and opened her eyes. It was lighter now than it had been the last time her eyes opened. Dawn was coming.

The gray-brown lioness didn't get up. It would be a while before anyone noticed she wasn't with the Pride, so she didn't have to hurry back. She closed her eyes again. For the last few months, Jayden found it difficult to sleep at home with her Pride. Even if everyone was sleeping and quiet, everything just seemed too loud. Not that their Pride was huge or anything. Her father, Tome and mother, Vitani were King and Queen of the Pride. Then there was her older sister, Tempest, and older brother, Koru. She had an older-by-one-minute sister, named Dayya. There were only three members of their Pride that weren't blood relatives to Jayden's family, and that was Larne, Mani and a lion named Drayden.

Larne was an old gray lioness with brown eyes and a quick temper. Possibly the best and most notable thing about her was her grandmother-like quality. She had joined their Pride just before Jayden and Dayya were born, and had quickly become more than a Pride mate, but a family member.

Mani, of course, was Tempest's boyfriend. He had only been a part of Vitani's Pride for nearly two years now, but he had already proved his worth in the Pride. He was tall, muscular, and one he had some practice, a great hunter. He was a great help, and not to mention handsome. Jayden couldn't help but admit her older sister had it made: she was beautiful _and_ had a wonderful boyfriend.

Finally, Drayden was a new member. He was about Jayden's age, maybe a little older. He was tall but thin. His pelt was peach. His small young adult mane was light to medium brown. Thick bangs hung on the sides of his face, almost framing his eyes. He had a dark peach rim above his dark brown nose. The dark brown markings around his eyes really made his ice blue eyes stand out. Drayden came to their Pride about six months ago. He had a rather sad story.

Jayden's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of approaching paw-steps. Her eyes opened and she rose her head. As if thoughts of him pulled him to her, Drayden approached her.

"Jayden, what're you doing out here? Aren't you cold?" he said, worry in his eyes.

She stood quickly. "No, it's not cold." She said, hoping to avoid his first question. "the grass is a little bit longer here, so it helps blanket me."

He chuckled as if she had made a joke. "You're funny. C'mon, let's head back. Dawn will break soon." he began walking toward home.

"Yes, my mom will be organizing hunting patrols soon." She said, following him.

"Hah. 'Organize patrols.' You mean the same groups as usual? You, me, Dayya and your dad, or Tempest Mani Koru and your mom?"

Jayden laughed.

"Hey, why doesn't Larne hunt?" Drayen went on, his smile grew.

Jayden laughed again, "I don't know."

"She can't be _that_ old, right?"

"Maybe she is?"

"She's probably like… a hundred."

"No." She smiled.

"No? You don't think so?"

"I don't think so."

"Okay, how old then?"

"I don't know and I'm not gonna guess."

"Why not? You're always serious business, Jayden, just throw out a number. For fun."

"Just as soon as I guess, Larne will appear behind us and scold me like a child." Jayden said.

"And probably cuff you over the ear too." He said, mimicking the action of lightly disciplining a child.

Jayden chuckled. "Yes."

"She did it to Dayya the other day."

"No way."

"Yes way. And all she did was interrupt Larne as she was talking to your mother. You should have seen the look on Dayya's face. I think she was shocked into silence. Yes for the first time." He chuckled. "And Vitani just looked amused."

Jayden smiled. From the first day Drayden showed up at their Pride, he had fit right in. He immediately made good friends with Koru, then it didn't take long before Drayden and Jayden's name similarities made them curious enough to talk to one another. Both are shy natured, but that didn't stop them from becoming friends.

Around Jayden, the peach lion talked a lot, and made a lot of jokes. She didn't mind it thought, she enjoyed being made amused, and he seemed glad to do it. When he first came to the Pride, he was quiet and withdrawn. He had quickly explained his situation to Tome and Vitani, and after a short discussion period, he was welcomed into the Pride. Jayden hadn't even heard the story of what happened to the new comer until several weeks after he joined. She had wondered, but didn't want to seem rude or nosy by asking. She was certain if she had tried to ask her mother, she would have just received a "mind your own business, he'll tell you if he wants" type of answer. So she didn't bother asking.

When Drayden made friends with Koru shortly after joining, he began to open up, and the jokester the Pride had come to know and love had been born.

The day Drayden told her the story of his past was an awkward one. Jayden had been instructed to help with the chore of removing bones and other uneatable parts of prey from their eating space. She had been dragging a particularly stinky rack of ribs far away from their lands, and was too distracted to realize she had come upon Drayen who had separated himself to be alone. It surprised her to see him, so she had gasped, then felt foolish especially when he looked at her with his ice blue eyes. He hadn't been crying, but the sadness in his eyes was strong enough to made Jayden want to cry for him.

"I-I'm sorry." She had apologized. "I didn't see you there."

He only looked at her with the same sad eyes. She felt sympathy for him then. He had the same look to his eyes that she did sometimes when she looked at her reflection in water. She was able to hide those eyes when around others, but maybe Drayden's pain was too hard to hide. Even though the two hadn't spoke much previous to that day, Jayden stepped away from the carcass she had been dragging, coming closer to him.

"Are you okay?" she had asked.

"Um, yeah I think so. Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your chore."

"I'm not all that excited about putting that thing back in my mouth." Jayden had said, trying to make him smile. He did, but it was forced.

She decided to take a chance. "Do you want to talk about… whatever's bothering you?"

"Um… well…" he stammered. Jayden instantly felt bad.

_Oh no, I've been rude. _"I'm sorry, it's not my business." she laughed nervously, and began to move away toward the stinky carcass.

"No, wait." Drayden said suddenly, and stood. She stood and caught eyes with him. "Yes, I want to talk. I'll talk to you about what's bothering me. Thank you for offering."

Jayden felt relieved she hadn't offended him by being too forward, but now she panicked again. _What am I doing? I don't know how to console people! I don't know how to be understanding and helpful… especially to someone I don't know._

But she had already offered, so she smiled, and sat down. Drayden did as well and sighed. He began to tell the story. Most of his cub hood was normal and happy. He wasn't particularly close to his mother. He never knew why, and he didn't realize until later into adulthood that some lionesses just don't show their love and affection in the most obvious ways. Or some have none at all.

His father had been a traveling rogue. The King of the Pride was fair and kind. He acted like a father to Drayden and the rest of the cubs in the Pride. Since Drayden didn't form a close connection to his mother, he formed one with the rest of the cubs in the Pride. They were like brothers and sisters all. One day, a rogue lion appeared and wanted to take over the pride. He was huge; his muscles were like steel and claws like talons. He fought the king, but the king lost, and was killed. Chaos spread through the Pride as the new King executed his first new rule: All cubs in his Pride must be sired by him. He killed the cub nearest to him, and its mother shrieked and cried. The rest of the mothers scooped their cubs in their mouths and tried to run. A the time, Drayden's mother had been elsewhere, so Drayden ran away to save himself. One by one, the new King chased and hunted down the lionesses, and killed their cubs. The lionesses were forced to return to the Pride and join the King's harem. He wanted all new cubs, all his own blood. The lionesses were too broken to disobey, and even if they did, they were punished physically.

Drayden had escaped unnoticed. He was scared and alone, and had heard the nearby screams of the cubs when they were murdered. So he stayed put intead of going back. He expected his mother to try and find him to take care of him, but she never did. Drayden was just a cub, he couldn't take care of himself. He snuck back to the Pride in desperation. He headed toward the clearing where the Pride kept the prey they caught from hunts, but the meat had been moved near the King. The King handed out the food to each lioness, and ate much of it himself. Next to the corrupt King was Drayden's mother. She had been chosen to be his Queen. She didn't seem to mind though; she sat proudly and beautifully with her shiny brown coat and radiant amber eyes beside him.

Drayden was too afraid to try sneaking over to talk to her, but he was able to talk to a different lioness nearby, named Nerra. She reminded him of his mother, but her pelt was slightly lighter brown in color, and she had green eyes. She was one of the mothers who's child had been killed. She risked herself to get him scraps of food. He came back to her anytime he was hungry, but mostly lived outside the Pride's lands. This went on for days. The Pride was miserable, but learned to cope, and accepted everything as normal. One day, when Drayden's mother was alone, he tried to talk to her. She seemed surprised to see him, and not happy. "Go away." she had told him. The cub was so hurt, he staggered away, unable to say anything else. He didn't know what else to do than to keep hiding from the Pride and their King. Days later, Nerra told him the King was afraid to keep sneaking food to Drayden. She knew the King would find out soon, he had come close once or twice already. So she began giving Drayden her whole portion for the day for him to take back with him and ration out over several days. He hated this because he had come accustomed to seeing Nerra and enjoyed her company, but he didn't want to risk getting her in trouble, and really he had no other choice, so he obeyed.

This only worked for a short time because now Nerra was under watch by the King's favorite lionesses, and sometimes the King watched her himself. Nerra gave Drayden sympathetic looks when she saw him peering from the bushes nearby, but she couldn't do anything to help him while being under surveillance. Drayden tried desperately to talk with his mother again, this time pleading for her help, but she was just as cold as before, and even said, "Why couldn't you have died like the others?"

Drayden ran from the Pride then. He was hopeless and out of options. He ran as fast and as far as he could, not knowing what he was doing or where he was going, or how he was going to survive on his own.

Drayden told the end of his story a little faster as if he were coming out of a trance, "I managed to stay away from preditors, by some miracle. I scavenged food from dead animals, and on occasion caught a rabbit or mouse."

He paused now. The story seemed to tire him. Jayden spoke, "You loved on your own until you came to our Pride?"

"No. I wandered from Pride to Pride a couple weeks after that. Several Prides chased me away. They didn't want one more mouth to feed, but those that took me in were alright. No place felt like home and I didn't fit in. When I was just a young adolescent, I left on my own again. I could hunt bigger game at that time, though it wasn't often or easy. Then almost a year later, I found your Pride.

There was silence between them for a few moments, then Jayden said, "You went through a lot."

"Yes." He had said.

Jayden remembered being sad, and she could tell Drayden was still broken about it at the time. But now, the silly smily lion before her, leading her back home seemed completely different. He was happy; that she knew. She felt honored that their Pride was the place he felt he fit in.

Drayden caught her staring at him and she looked away. She thought maybe she would have liked the tall peach lion in another life. The hole in her chest where her heart used to be caused her not to feel anything most of the time. But she didn't mind it that way.

Jayden suddenly heard a loud yawn. Her father was waking up just as Jayden and Drayden made it back home.

The day was about to begin.


	2. Sister Hunt

Chapter 2: Sister Hunt

"Good, you're up." The large black maned lion, Tome, said to Jayden and Drayden as he stood and stretched. Tome and Vitani usually slept just outside their Pride's cave. It wasn't a very large cave, in fact, it could be better described as a crevice. The end border of Vitani's Pride's lands was a huge rock wall that reached far into the sky. In the wall was the crevice the Pride used for shelter during harsh weather, or if there were something dangerous prowling outside. There was just enough room inside for all members to lay side by side, or for one of them to pace back and forth. On the outside, attached to the rock wall were boulders and large rocks that had vines growing on them. It gave the crevice a mysterious and alluring feel. Vitani's cubs had been born in that beautiful place.

"Good morning, Sir." Drayden said stiffly as he always did. Tome had tried time after time to get Drayden to address him in a less formal way, but he couldn't help it. His respect and gratefulness for Tome having taken him in came through Drayden's speech no matter what he said.

"Good morning to you both. Ready to work?"

"Yes." Jayden replied.

Vitani, who was beside Tome, rose as well. "Since you seem so eager to go, Jayden, you're on hunting duty. Drayden you too. And get Dayya."

"I'll join the hunt with you. Come get me when you're ready." Tome said.

Drayden put his muzzle next to Jayden's brown ear and whispered, "What a surprise." She smiled a little, but still replied to her mother, "Right away."

The two young adults went in search of Dayya, and found the light-red lioness sprawled out under a nearby tree. Dignity gone, Dayya was belly up, with the top of her head arched back, resting on the Earth. Her front paw was reached up over her head, and the other rested on her chest. Her tail was flopped over her back right foot. The foot was twitching as if she were dreaming.

"How can that be comfortable?" Drayden said quietly, trying not to laugh.

"I don't know." Jayden said, then cleared her throat loudly, hoping to wake her easily. But Dayya was as stubborn in sleep as she was in wakefulness, and she didn't stir.

"Allow me." Drayden offered, and he moved closer to her. He lowered his muzzle near her face, his light-brown mane hanging. He whispered, "Zebra… Antelope. Gazelle… we caught it all."

Dayya's eyes remained closed, but she had heard him in her sleep, for she began licking her lips.

"I saved you a chunk of fat from the belly. Your favorite part." He continued.

She licked her lips again. Drayden started to laugh, and even Jayden chuckled a little. Dayya's eyes suddenly opened.

"What?" she said.

"Nothing." Drayden replied as he tried to stop laughing.

"Good dreams, Dayya?" Jayden asked with a smirk.

"Excellent! I was having a wonderful breakfast." She stood and shook off the grass and leaves that clung to her pelt.

"That dream is about to come true, come on, we're going hunting." Jayden said.

"Yes!" Dayya was already energetic and enthusiastic.

Jayden had always known she and her sister were very different from each other, and hunting was just one more difference. Dayya loved hunting. She loved being in a team with others, following or giving direction, and chasing game. She was good at it. Jayden thought she mostly enjoyed it because of the attention. Dayya often got praised for her skills in bringing down the kill the fastest. Even Vitani, who only gave sparingly, complimented her almost each time she hunted.

The three of them trotted back to pick up Tome, and they'd be off to hunt.

It's not that Jayden hated hunting… she just found it tiring and a little boring. She had twisted a paw more than once, and one time, a hoof almost bucked right into her jaw. Jayden had heard Larne tell a story once about a lioness she once knew who had her jaw broken by an animal's strong kick. The lioness was unable to eat as her jaw hung uselessly under her mouth. The lioness starved and died.

The image always stuck with Jayden through her life. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose the ability to eat in one swift movement of a hoof. First the pain, then the hopeless, useless feeling, knowing you were going to die of starvation. So ever since hearing that story, a lot of Jayden's hunts had failed because at the last second, she hesitated too long, or pulled her head away from the animal's fleeing feet instead of making that final leap and pin.

Now as Jayden, Dayya, Drayden, and Tome headed out, the dark brown lioness promised herself not to hesitate at the end if given the chance.

_I'll try extra hard today… just to prove I _can_ do it._

Tome let Dayya lead since she were the better hunter. Dayya's silliness and playfulness ended when on the hunt. She was still and silent. Mature even. She gave direction to them with flicks of her ears or her tail. Today, they stalked a herd of wildebeest.

Dayya and her team quietly moved closer, keeping as low to the ground as possible. The tall yellow grass mostly covered them. The four were spread out, but all could still see their leader as she dolled out instructions. A flick of her right ear told Jayden to go right. She obeyed without seeing Drayden or her father's instructions, but she heard them moving as well.

Jayden stalked right, making sure to step over a twig and a branch without touching it.

The herd was calmly milling around munching on grass. Luckily, the head male who stood alert, was at the other end of the medium-to-large herd. At this time, Dayya and the others were to pick out a weak point in the herd. Somewhere they could infiltrate and ambush easily, like a couple who had wandered too far, or an injured or elderly. Jayden didn't see any at first, so she kept moving on, slowly, quietly.

She was studying the herd so intently, she hadn't realized how far she went. She was almost near the lead male, so she stopped.

_I went too far. I should head back._

Before she could turn around, a pounding of hooves told her Dayya had found a weak point. The wildebeest nearest Jayden looked around in confusion for a moment, eyes wide, then they all began to run. Jayden ducked away to a safe distance so she wouldn't get trampled. Coming at her suddenly was a smaller wildebeest, a youngling, and trailing it was Dayya. Jayden readied herself as her sister shouted, "It's you!" Meaning she was expected to handle it.

_I can't let her down._ Jayden ran at the smaller beast, and didn't have to go far until it saw her. It was too late, and with jaws and claws wide open, Jayden leaped at the beast's chest. The impact was hard but not as hard as it would have been if she had attacked an adult that way. Be she knew better than to do that.

Jayden's body weight was just enough to knock the wildebeest on its side and even though it's legs were thrashing, the brown lioness kept her full weight over its chest and neck. Something cracked and the beast bleated loudly. Dayya appeared then, and bit its neck, killing it. She pulled away, mouth bloody and said,

"You did it! Come on, let's go!"

Jayden nodded, allowing herself a small amount of pride creep up. She raced after Dayya as she bolted away. Ahead, Drayden was chasing an adult wildebeest, but he was losing speed. The sisters doubled their speed to catch up, and this time Dayya motioned for Jayden to go left. She did, and the red lioness went right. They flanked the wildebeest Drayden was chasing. It looked panicked and moved away from Jayden when it saw her, but bleated with surprise when it saw another lioness on its other side. It took on more speed.

Jayden had to act or it would get away. She leaped at the beast's face, and shouted, "RAH!" Not intending to attack, but intending to scare it. The ploy worked, and the beast jumped in surprise, moving right into Dayya's path. She leaped on its back while simultaneously scratching deeply in its neck with her back claws. It let out a final call, then fell while Jayden added her weight to Dayya's. This wildebeest was older, and much bigger than the other. It was scrambling with all its strength to stand. It might have gotten away, but Drayden finally caught up and quickly moved to the beast's thrashing head, held it down with his paws, and sunk his teeth into its neck.

When it was over, the three young lions got off the kill and Dayya cheered. "Way to go! Especially you, Jayden." The red lioness excitedly jumped at her sister, putting her paws on Jayden's shoulders. The sisters smiled and Jayden felt proud again.

_I did it._

The moment of joy was over quickly as they became serious again. Drayden and Dayya drug the kill as Jayden looked for her dad. She found him near the first kill, already dragging it home. When she was at his side, he let go of the kill.

"I must be getting too old to keep up with you kids." he said, only half joking.

"Oh, Dad! Well you're not too old to drag this youngling, are you? Come on."

* * *

"Oh, good, you got two!" Koru said as they got their kill in the clearing. "I could eat that little one all by myself."

It was probably true, Jayden knew. Koru had grown into a big lion, just like his dad. His brown mane was big too, and at the top, the hair was split into two parts. Long pieces went down each side of his face. His blue eyes had become charming, they were usually squinted as if he were always about to laugh.

"There will be enough for everyone, son." Tome said. "Did you help your mother with the cleaning?"

"Um…" Koru said, turning his eyes away. Jayden could tell he hadn't helped with the chore.

Vitani approached to confirm it."No, I had to move out all the bones and scraps from our last kill by myself!"

Koru looked at his paws. Dayya approached. "He must have been out with the girls again!"

"I was not!" he replied, taking a swing at her. She only laughed.

"Then what _were_ you doing?" Tome asked.

"Well I was just… wandering…"

"To find girls!" Dayya added.

Jayden rolled his eyes. This happened a lot. Koru had become such a lady's man that anytime a girl found him, or he found a girl, it was "lust-a-first-sight."

"Say no more." Vitani said, "You're too old to be ditching family chores."

"I'm too old to partake in family chores." Koru muttered, but his parents didn't hear.

Vitani continued, "To make up for it, you are to take care of Larne in any way she needs it for the rest of the day. In fact, you can start by giving her a portion of the food before you eat yours.

Koru growled quietly, but obeyed.

"Great catches, guys." Tempest said as she walked over. Tempest had been exempt from doing the chores that morning due to a wound she had received while hunting a week ago. She had leaped on an okapi's back, and it twisted its head around. The animal's horn tore a patch of skin on her back. She did still end up catching the prey, but the wound was deep and ragged, about an inch and a half across. Larne had been taking care of it with regular washings and medicine application, but the wound didn't seem to be getting better. It hurt for Tempest to move much, but she tried not to show it.

Mani trotted over. "Tempest, should you be up? Why don't you lie down." he said with concerned yellow eyes.

"No, I'm fine."

Mani moved closer to the kill to get Tempest her share. Tome and Vitani began to dig in as well.

"Jayden!" Drayden called from where the other kill was dragged. "Come eat the kill with me."

"Ohhhhh!" Dayya shouted, prolonging the sound. "Jayden and Drayden!" she teased.

Jayden and Drayden only rolled their eyes. Jayden sat beside the peach lion, and began to eat. This wasn't the first time their names were said together in that way. The first few times it was embarrassing, but now they had come to expect it. The first time had been especially embarrassing because it was the first day that Drayden came to their Pride. When he had been introduced, Dayya had gasped when she heard his name, "Drayden and Jayden!" she had said "They have almost the same name! It must be fate!"

Ever since then, Dayya had been trying to get them together. Jayden might have enjoyed trying to love again, if her sister hadn't been trying so annoyingly hard to make it happen, and if Jayden's heart hadn't already been torn up into a million pieces.

As Jayden chewed her food, she let her mind wander to a topic she didn't often let herself ponder.

Dark.


	3. Pain

Chapter 3: Pain

Jayden didn't like to think about Dark. It just hurt too much. How had she fallen so in love with that boy in such a short time? This was a question she asked herself all the time. Well, he wasn't so much of a boy anymore, but a man. In the near two years since she'd been gone, Dark would have grown into a young adult. He'd be tall, and likely muscular. He'd have a mane now. Jayden wondered If it would be grown in full, connected all the way around, or only partially full and missing sections on the sides. Koru went through a phase such as that for a few months before his full mane grew in. It seemed a little awkward, but at the same time, a bit cute. Koru had been embarrassed when he went through that phase, and he spent a longer time in that phase than Mani did, so that only made it worse.

"_Mine filled up from that phase only after one month!" _The brown lion had joked with Koru at the time. Koru had blushed and turned away, still a little shy in front of his idol, Mani. It did take a few months, but Koru's did finally grow in fully. At the same time, Mani's was growing bigger and thicker like Tome's.

Jayden tried to picture Dark as an adult, and found it hard to do. Finally she conjured an acceptable image of his grown up face, black mane and his beautiful blue-gray eyes that seemed to reflect all emotions at once.

A blush came to Jayden as she viewed her image of Dark. He was remarkably handsome, it was almost hard to look at, or in this case think about, so she let the image disappear.

_It doesn't matter what Dark looks like now anyway. _Jayden thought. _It's not like I'm going to see him again…_

When Jayden and her family first came home almost two years ago, Jayden told herself every day that as soon as she could hunt and fight for herself, she would make the trek back to the Pride Lands, no matter what her family thought. That first month, she used the happy thoughts of seeing Dark again to get her through each heart broken day. She also had resented her parents a lot at first, especially her mother. She felt they had ruined her life by taking her away from the cub and Pride she loved. Of course they hadn't _known_ she was in love with the black cub, and nor was she able to tell me out of fear of Dayya finding out. She hadn't wanted to cause animosity between her and her sister since Dayya had liked Dark too.

It took some time, but Jayden let go of her resentment. Then some months after that, after tons of crying, thinking and mind changing, Jayden let go of her dream too. It had just been too long. How did she know her relationship with Dark would still be the same if she went back home? How did she know he would still like her? Or worse, what if he had a new girlfriend? Jayden hated to think of that scenario, but she was a gluten for punishment, so sometimes she did. She imagined some other girl all over him; kissing hugging, always smiling and happy. It was only her imagination, but it broke her heart. She couldn't just show up at the Pride Lands and risk seeing him with another girl. And all this time that had passed gave her time to analyze how Dark reacted when she was leaving the Pride Lands with her family. Dark had been cold. He barely said anything to her. His blank expression was burned into her mind from when she said goodbye and began walking away. He hadn't tried to stop her, or say he would miss her, or promise he would wait for her…nothing.

So Jayden gave up, resigned to live her life the way she was expected to: with her family. If she were to find love someday and have cubs, fine, but it would not be with Dark, and it would not be any time soon. She might be forever broken on the inside because of her unbending love for someone she could never have, and who didn't seem to want her in the end anyway, but on the outside, she'd try to be normal and live to help and serve others, like help her sister Dayya with hunts, or Tempest's future cubs with Mani.

Eventually she would think of Dark less and less, and one day, even forget him. He probably already has stopped thinking of her, so why should thoughts of him still stop her in her tracks?

Jayden let her thoughts wander to the other friends she had back at the Pride Lands. If Dark was an adult, that means so were Clous, Malowa and the twins Zuna and Zula. And the cubs of Tikana, Tamani and Toni that hadn't been born yet before Jayden and her family would be adolescents by now.

_I bet those three- or more as it could be- are best friends._ She thought, and wondered about them. Then halted the thoughts once she remembered one of them could be Dark's new girlfriend. She decided not to think of them again.

"Jayden, you've been chewing the same piece of meat for the past few minutes." Tempest said, breaking her concentration. Jayden hadn't noticed her older sister had finished eating already. "Are you done?"

"Oh. Yes." the dark brown lioness said, using a paw to wipe excess off her lips.

"Would you like to go with me to the river for a drink?"

"Of course." Jayden said, then nodded a quick goodbye to Drayden who was sitting beside her. She quickly joined Tempest's side.

"Be careful!" Mani called after his mate. He looked as if he wanted to go with them, but Tempest must have insisted she could go with her sister instead. Tempest confirmed it once they were far enough away when she said,

"It's not that I'm beginning to not like him, it's just he's being too over protective about a silly back wound."

Jayden felt a smile coming. Mani and Tempest were always a sickeningly cute yet amusing couple. "He just cares about you."

"I know."

"And he worries since the wound isn't getting better."

"It's been fine." Tempest said.

Jayden glanced at her older sister's back. The wound was scabbed on the edges, but the middle was bright red, open, bleeding and oozing a little white pus. It smelled faintly of infection, but Jayden didn't say anything.

Tempest had become pretty stubborn as she grew to adulthood. Along with that, she had grown to be mature, nurturing like a mother, understanding when things didn't go her way, and full of advice when asked for it. Jayden looked up to her. Not literally though; the only thing that hadn't grown on her sister were her legs. Tempest was always small for her age, and remained so through adulthood. She was the oldest sibling, yet the smallest. Except for her belly. A little weight had gained there because she hadn't been as active lately thanks to her wound. Normally she was very skinny. She knew once the wound got better, she would quickly lose the extra pounds.

After a few minutes of walking, the sisters arrived at the river and took long drinks. Tempest seemed tired, or in pain, so she laid down. Jayden felt bad for her but didn't know what to say or do. The grayish-peach lioness seemed content to just rest quietly, however, and she put her head on her paws.

Jayden looked into the water of the calm river and watched it move for a while. It was very relaxing. Jayden had always liked water. The sound of it was hypnotic and calming.

Suddenly Tempest spoke, "Do you ever think about the Pride Lands?"

An almost painful rush came to Jayden's chest. "Not really." She lied quickly, hoping the conversation would end there.

"I've started thinking about it recently. Or thinking about my old friends, rather. I miss them." Tempest said. "I would really like to see them again."

"Uh, yeah." was all Jayden could say. She didn't want to think about the residents of Pride Lands, namely Dark. She was ready to begin getting over him. Talking about it wasn't going to help.

Jayden's ears lifted. Or would it? Why _couldn't_ she tell Tempest her feelings about Dark? She could tell her not to tell Dayya, Jayden knew Tempest wouldn't if she asked.

"Um… Tempest?" the dark brown lioness said, turning to her. She was laying on her side now and her stomach was heaving. She was breathing fast and had her eyes shut tight.

"Kings! What's wrong?" Jayden said, standing quickly.

Her eyes were still pressed shut, and didn't say anything.

"Why didn't you say you were in pain, Tempest?" she said frantically.

"It will pass, it always passes. It's fine."

"You've been like this before? Have you told anyone?"

"It's just my head hurting… it's not that serious." Tempest said, shivering a little. Jayden put her paw on Tempest's forehead. It was hot.

"You have a fever. I'm going to get Larne." Jayden took off, her heart racing. What was happening to Tempest? She ran as fast as she could.

"What's wrong?" Tome said when he saw Jayden's demeanor. Mani was there too, and looked on with interest.

"It's Tempest. She has a fever, and she's not moving. It must be from her infection. Where's Larne?"

"Tempest?" Mani shouted, bolted to his paws, and dashed off in the direction Jayden had come.

"Larne went with your mother. They are nearby." Tome said, gesturing in the direction Vitani and Larne went. Jayden nodded, and hurried off. Tome quickly followed Mani.

Jayden quickly found Larne and her mother, and told them about Tempest. Larne gasped and said, "Well hurry, take us to her!" Vitani and Larne followed Jayden back to the river.

Tempest was still laying on her side, her head on the ground. Mani was standing over her, licking her cheek and sounders comfortingly. Tome was stroking her front paw, and saying her name. Vitani joined her mate's side, and Larne moved to Tempest's head. Larne touched Tempest's forehead and ears, after making Mani move over a little. She moved to her back and looked at her wound. After a moment, she moved back to her head.

"Tempest, can you hear me?" the old lioness said.

"Yes," she said quietly, eyes still closed.

"How are you feeling?"

"Cold. And tired."

Larne looked up at her awaiting family. "She has a fever."

"That's all?" Mani said, looking a little relieved. "I'll get my mane wet and put it on her forehead. The cold will help lower the temperature, wont it?" he said, already going nearer the water.

"Yes but there's more…" Larne sighed. "I'm afraid she might have blood poisoning."

"Blood poisoning!" Vitani exclaimed.

Suddenly, Dayya came running over. "Blood poisoning? Tempest has blood poisoning? What is that exactly?" She stopped by her parents. Drayden was behind her, looking concerned too.

"The infection in her back wound has spread to her blood. The infection is beginning to course through her whole body. Without the right medicine… she will die."

Jayden gasped. "No…"

"That can't be!" Mani said. "You're lying! Not my Tempest." he nuzzled her deeply.

Tome spoke up, ignoring Mani's hysterics. "Well you have medicine don't you?"

"Yeah!" Dayya said. Larne lowered her head.

"No. I don't know the medicines that would help."

"What!" Mani exclaimed. Vitani started nuzzling the even smaller-seeming lioness now, and started crying. Jayden felt a crushing, shattering feeling. _Tempest can't die!_

"It's not too late." Larne said, and all eyes turned to her, hungry for her words.

"I know who knows which medicine she needs to take. Mairu. We must return to the Pride Lands and seek her help."

Jayden's eyes grew wide as Larne's words hit her. They were returning to the Pride Lands.


	4. Hide it in the Bush

Chapter 4: Hide it in the Bush

Any words Jayden thought to say were caught in her throat. Her thoughts flashed though: _oh no… the Pridelands… Dark's there! What if he's forgotten me? What if he has a girlfriend? I _can't_ see them together, that would kill me… I can't go! I _won't _go!_

Vitani spoke, "If that is what must be done, then so be it."

"But can Tempest travel?" Dayya asked. "It's not a short trip to the Pridelands."

"That is a good point…" Larne said, looking discouraged.

"I can go, I'm fine." Tempest was saying, but no one paid attention to her stubbornness. Mani rubbed her neck though with a gentle paw.

"She'll have to stay." Vitani said, "I'll go alone and bring the medicine back."

Jayden felt a bit of relief and sighed. This plan would save her from facing her fear.

"No, that can't be done." Tome interjected. "First of all, it's dangerous. You'd have to hunt alone, and if you were attacked, fight alone-"

"Who would attack-"

"_Second_." Tome cut in, "What if the medicines she needs are liquid in nature? They would have to be carried on a large leaf. That's the only way I can think of to transport liquid type medicine. You'd have to drag the leaf back by yourself. That sounds pretty uncomfortable for one lion to do the whole way."

"Yeah," Mani spoke up, "If we came, we can take turns dragging it. Or more than one of us can take it together."

"Well, _someone_ will have to stay with Tempest, we can't _all_ go." Vitani said, growing impatient.

This was Jayden's chance. "I'll stay." She said quickly. "We'll stay in the cave to avoid attacks… and I can hunt for us."

"Someone else would have to stay with you." Tome told his youngest daughter. "I say it's too dangerous for you to hunt on your own."

"Don't I get a say in this?" Tempest said.

"I'll stay too." Mani said.

"There's something I need to say!" Tempest tried.

"Fine." Tome said over her, "Mani and Jayden will stay with Tempest while Koru, Larne, Dayya, Drayden, Vitani and I will go to the Pridelands and hurry back with the medicine."

"No, no." Larne was saying now, "There will be no hurrying with that medicine! Just think, if you spill it all then we'd be back to where we started with no medicine for Tempest's infection. You'll have to walk."

"Walk!" Vitani exclaimed. "Who knows how long that could take!?"

Larne shook her head. "It has to be done."

"It already takes several days to get there, Mom." Koru spoke up. "And several back. That's by running most of the time, and fast walking the rest, with almost no resting. So that's nearly a week right there. So if we walked the entire way back the whole trip could take us…" Koru paused.

Jayden supplied, "Approximately 3 to 4 weeks depending on how fast the trip there is, if we come upon any reason to stop and how long it takes Mairu to collect the ingredients for the medicine."

"That's like a month!" Vitani said, exasperated.

"Um, excuse me, _family?!" _Tempest said, trying to get their attention. She didn't let them interrupt her again. "I don't think I can wait around 3 to 4 weeks… I'm pregnant."

Vitani and Tome's eyes doubled in size. Jayden dropped her jaw. Mani looked surprised too, but not disappointed. Jayden looked at her sister's belly. That news explained the slight weight gain.

"I should have realized sooner," Larne was saying, "You look about one and a half, to two months along. No, she can't wait a month. The cub might be coming by then."

"Well _this_ certainly makes things more complicated…" Vitani said.

"Congratulations, Tempest!" Dayya shouted, and nuzzled her sister.

"You can always count on Dayya to lighten a dark situation, huh?" Drayden whispered in Jayden's ear.

"Huh?" she replied, because at first she thought he had said something about Dark, but then realized what he said. "Oh, yeah."

"Congratulations." Tome echoed. "To both of you."

Mani and Tempest nuzzled.

"You aren't mad at me, are you Mom?" Tempest said, looking up at Vitani.

Her expression softened. "Of course not, sweetie." she nuzzled her daughter. "I can't wait to meet my first grandcub."

"Unfortunately this makes things more dangerous." Larne said. "If the blood poisoning gets out of control… the cub will die."

Tempest gasped. "No!"

Mani put a protective paw over her stomach.

"Then she _must_ go." Vitani said. "We'll all go to the Pride Lands, get the medicine and get her healed. We'll stay until the cub is born. Once he or she is old enough to travel, we'll return."

Jayden gulped. That was a long time. It meant staying there for several months.

Everyone was nodding to Vitani's plan.

"It's the only way" Larne said. "While we wait for the cub to come of age, I'll learn the things I need to know about medicine so I can be better prepared in the future."

"Sounds good." Tome said, and began talking about when they should leave.

_Oh no…_ Jayden thought again. _There's no avoiding it this time. We will be returning to Pride Rock. What am I going to do?_

Jayden backed away from her family as quietly as she could. No one noticed, so she trotted away. Once she was far enough, she full out ran. _Why am I running? _she thought suddenly.

_It's not like I'm running away or anything…_

_Are you sure you're not? _Her inner voice asked.

_I just _can't _see Dark! Not after all this time._

_You always run away._

_No I don't! Not always…_But Jayden thought back to when she was a cub, back at the Pridelands. Her mother had announced to Kivu that she planned to take her Pride home. This was the instant she realized she would be forced to leave everything that made her happy. She ran then too. She didn't have anywhere to go, but instead of standing, talking and dealing with it, she had fun into the cave and cried.

_I do always run…_ She realized, and stopped. She found a nearby tree and collapsed under it. The lioness put her head in her paws and tried hard not to cry.

"I do always run." She muttered aloud, "I'm such a coward. I'm weak." Jayden cried quietly in her paws for a few minutes, then thankfully stopped just a few minutes before she heard pawsteps approach, and a female voice call her name.

"Jayden?"

It was Dayya.

"Hey." Jayden called to her, feeling exposed and kind of silly.

"Hey yourself. Why'd you disappear suddenly?" The red-cream lioness sat by her sister, and looked at her with curiosity. Dayya usually was loud and oblivious, but she did have her quiet moments. Jayden felt very thankful for that.

"Well I just came here to think…" she said. _Though I can't tell you what about…_

"I think I know why." Dayya said.

Jayden was surprised. "You do?" The dark brown lioness looked at her sister. _Could she really know?_

Dayya looked at the sky. "I think about it sometimes too." she adapted a far-away look.

Jayden's eyebrows rose. Were they speaking of the same thing? Dayya did love Dark too, back then. She even promised him she'd still love him and one day they'd be together. But Dayya hadn't talked about Dark in a long time. Through the first months after Vitani had taken them home, she talked about him and the rest of the Pridelanders a lot. But after that, Dayya almost _never_ spoke of Dark or the Pridelands. It was like she had forgotten him. There was no way Dayya knew what Jayden thought now. She remained silent so Dayya would speak.

"I mean, she basically died because of us…" she said.

Jayden was confused. "Who?'

"Sarafina of course!" Dayya looked at Jayden again. "Isn't that what you were thinking?"

"Oh… yes. I was." Jayden lied and thought back to the Pridelands again. During the battle with the Black Pride, Jayden and the other cubs were to stay in the cave, and Sarafina was assigned to baby-sit them. Sarafina bravely sacrificed herself when two wild dogs who were on the Black Pride's side attacked. The cubs were able to get away unhurt while the brave old lioness fought the tough dogs.

"But don't worry, sis. I just always think of it like this: Sarafina practically snarled at us to leave the cave. To protect us. There was no way she wanted us to get hurt. We were saved and that was what she wanted."

"Yes." Jayden agreed.

Dayya went on. "So why does that make you not want to go back to the Pride Lands? I could kinda tell you didn't think it was such a great idea when it was suggested."

"Um…" Jayden had to think fast." I just um…fell bad, and being near the Pridelands, especially the cave will remind me of what happened and how I couldn't help her."

"So you're scared of facing those feelings?" Dayya asked.

"Yes that's it exactly." Jayden said, then stopped. _Wait. That _is_ it exactly, but about my feelings for Dark._

"Hmm…" Dayya said, looking reflective, "Well you can't hide from things forever, and that includes feelings. I think of it like this: Feelings are always there, and you can shove them under a bush for a while, but eventually you walk by that bush again, because you live by that bush, you know, so you're bound to walk by it sometimes, and there are those feelings again. You can keep hiding them in the bush, but then you'll have to begin avoiding being near it, then you'll have to go out of your way to avoid even seeing it, and by that time you'll have avoided half your life. Do you see what I'm saying, Jayden?"

Jayden's mouth almost dropped. She had made perfect sense, albeit with a silly example. It was dead-on about her feelings about Dark. She had been "shoving them under the bush."

"So I should _face_ my feelings and go to the Pridelands." Jayden said looking at her light brown paws.

"Yes! And that's how you'll get over them."

_That's how I'll get over Dark. Just see him, say hello, then act normal. Maybe even act as if we never met. That might be best. I can do that._

Dayya spoke again, "Really, Jayden, for being the smart one in the family, sometimes you can just be so… sense-missing! I mean come on, being upset about something tha happened that wasn't your fault? That was like two years ago."

"Yeah, you're right, I was silly to worry about what happened to Sarafina. I think going there will help." she said.

Dayya nodded and smiled, "There you go! Well alright then. Dad says we're leaving in the morning, so we better get back and get ready. Mom wants us to exercise a bit so we'll be limbered up before we start the trip." She stood and headed for home.

"Coming." Jayden said, standing too. She looked at Dayya's dark-red striped back. "Dayya?"

She turned to look at her.

"Thank you."

"Certainly, my sister. Come on!"

* * *

**Author note: A short and happy-ish chapter. Dayya on occasion has words of semi-wisdom. I know many of you are excited about Tempest's news. The chapters will lengthen as we go along. Read on, thank you!**


	5. A Name

Chapter 5: A Name

Vitani and her family marched from their home early the next morning. The sky was still a bit dark when they set out, but the high-up clouds reflected hints of beautiful color from the soon-coming sun. Tempest's parents were concerned about her at first and watched her movements carefully, but Tempest proved she could still walk just fine as long as they went slow and took a break every once in a while.

Tempest reported that the wound did sting a bit, but the worst part was just the fatigue and fevers. Mani stood by her side the entire time and always announced when he thought they should take a break for her sake.

The Pride walked mostly in silence, so this gave Jayden time to think. Fortunately, she had kept the good attitude Dayya helped her achieve the day before.

_I don't have to be afraid. I'll arrive in the Pride Lands, say 'hi' to my old friends, and Dark too. I'll just act normal. It'll be fine. We'll stay a while and Tempest's cub will be born. I don't really have to be around Dark when I'm there. I'll be able to stay busy with other things. It's all gonna be okay._

_It's gonna be wonderful when Tempest's cub is born. _Jayden realized. _I'll be an aunt! _She felt herself smiling, and she trotted over to her older sister's side. Mani was on her opposite.

"Hey, Tempest. You doin' okay?" Jayden asked. The Pride had been going for about 3 hours now, and Tempest had been holding up fine so far.

"Yeah, I'm feeling alright right now." she replied. "The exercise is nice actually."

"Yeah, and I'm keeping a close eye on her." Mani added.

"You never take your eye off me." Tempest said, and gave Jayden a wink. Jayden giggled. "I never got to say before, but congratulations about the cub, you two." she said.

"Thank you." Tempest rubbed her head against her younger sister's shoulder. Mani smiled at her as a response.

"Do you have any thought to names yet?"

"I have thought of some." Mani said, "But Tempest doesn't like any of them."

"The cub is in _my_ belly, so yes, I get to tell you if I like the name or not." Tempest said to him. Her point was too true for him to protest with anything more than some muttering.

"So no names yet?" Jayden asked, amused.

"None yet."

"And don't try suggesting any." Mani added, looking over his mate's small back. "She'll just say no!"

"Now that's not true. I'm sure a name she came up with would be _much_ better than the ones you did."

"Better than 'Amani'?" he said.

Tempest muttered to Jayden, "I wonder who _that_ name takes after." Jayden laughed.

Mani continued, "Better than Ralei? Kyla, Jira, Mumbai?"

"Those names aren't bad, actually." Jayden admitted.

"No way." Tempest protested. "None of them seem right."

"Jayden thinks they're fine, and you seem to think she could suggest an amazing name… so why can't you accept they're good?"

"Well cuz they're not."

Jayden rolled her eyes at their bickering and smiled. This was typical Mani and Tempest banter.

Suddenly, Mani said, "Jayden, come on, suggest a name."

"Oh, what, me?" The dark colored lioness said. "Oh no, I couldn't think of anything good, really."

"I'm sure you could." Tempest said. "Just try it."

"Um.. Okay. I guess let me think for a minute." Jayden said. Her sibling and Mani went silent. They gave her a long time to think without interruption, and she was grateful for that. A cub's name is special. It's forever. It's what the cub will be called through their entire life weather they like it or not. Jayden thought about her own name. She had always liked it, though she never mentioned that to anyone. It was unique, and something about it just seemed perfect for her. She _was_ Jayden. She didn't know if there was a meaning for the word, but it didn't matter, she _was_ the meaning.

But how do you come up with a name for a cub? It would have to be something special. Something you like. Something catchy; easy to say and think.

_What's something I like?_ Jayden thought. _I like nature. I like quiet, calming sounds. Like the rain._ Jayden's heart danced a little when she thought of rain. Something about it was almost magical. She loved rain and loved water. Jayden had always really liked Tempest's name too since it meant a harsh water storm. No matter how hard or soft rain is falling, it was relaxing for her to listen to. But of course a fierce rain storm inspired awe in Jayden. A fierce name would be perfect for Tempest's cub. Suddenly she thought of one.

"I just thought of something. Well it's similar to your name, Tempest, but I still like it."

"What is it?" Mani asked.

"Spill it." Said Tempest, head turned toward her sister..

Jayden took a deep breath, feeling nervous for some reason. "Torrent."

Tempest head turned to look at her paws. She looked like she was thinking.

_Is she thinking, or does she hate it?_ Jayden considered. She looked at Mani's reaction. His eyebrows were raised and he was looking straight ahead. He looked impressed, but neither lion said anything.

Jayden couldn't stand the silence, so she had to speak, "It has a similar meaning as 'Tempest.' I thought it sounded strong and brave. I figured your son or daughter should have a name with those qualities," Jayden laughed nervously. The two remained silent.

Jayden finally admitted defeat, lowered her ears, and looked down at her own walking paws, "It's okay if you don't like it."

"It's not that we don't like it." Mani spoke up, looking at the brown lioness. "Quite the opposite in fact. And I can speak for Tempest; I _know_ she likes it. I mean, look how quiet she's become."

"Oh, hush!" Tempest retorted.

"Every time I had a name suggestion, she would make a face and turn it down right away." Mani explained, "But you've stunned her into silence, Jay!"

"I'm just thinking!" Tempest said, swatting her mate's arm.

Jayden laughed and Tempest looked at her. "But yes, I do like the name. Love it actually. Is it a girl's name or a boy's name?"

"I'm not sure. What do you think, Mani?"

"I think it's suitable for both." he said. "Are you saying we've found our name?"

"If Jayden agrees," Tempest replied, "Yes, I would love to use the name!"

Jayden was elated, "Wow really? Of course I agree! This is so exciting!" _I've named my own future niece or nephew!_

"Thanks, sis!" Tempest nuzzled her younger sister. Jayden purred In reply.

"Hey, what're you guys doing?" Someone shouted as they ran over to join them. It was Dayya. "No sisterly hugging without me!" She jumped on Jayden's back a little, then lowered herself.

"Hey, Dayya."

"What were you two talking about anyway?"

Mani replied, "Jayden just picked out a perfect name for our cub."

"She did!? Wow, and you actually like it?"

"Yes!" Tempest laughed.

"Well what is it? Don't keep me in the dark!"

"Torrent."

"Wow!" Dayya said, then swatted Jayden's side playfully. "That is a great name. I don't know what it means, but it fits!"

Jayden and Tempest rolled their eyes.

"By the way, you three, Dad says it's time for a rest, so slow down a bit and come back with the rest of the group. I'm going to go spread the new name! Torrent!" She leaped away to go tell the others.

"How does she have so much energy?" Tempest groaned.

"Well she doesn't have a huge wound on her back." Mani supplied.

Jayden looked at Tempest and realized how tired she looked. Her breathing was a bit heavy for only walking, even if it was a fast walk. Mani was noticing too, and his eyes met Jayden's and they shared a look of concern.

"Come on, let's go find somewhere comfortable to rest near the others." he said.

* * *

After only an hour's rest, the walk continued.

Tempest had more energy after resting, but slowed each hour. Near nightfall, Vitani went out on a hunt with Dayya and Jayden. They brought in one okapi for dinner. It was enough for all nine of them to eat, and Mani made sure Tempest ate enough to give her the energy she needed to continue.

Vitani and Tome wanted to go on for a while longer that night before stopping to sleep. Tempest was up to it, thanks to the meal and her general stubbornness, so they went on.

The next few days went on like this. They walked at a regular pace, sometimes faster when Tempest was able. They rested many times a day, sometimes for a few hours if Tempest had a fever. They hunted if the group was hungry, then slept in a circle with Tempest in the middle. No predators dared try sneak up on the Pride, not with three males at the edges.

Some days, Koru and Drayden would run miles ahead of the group just to scout the path they were taking to make sure it was clear and there was no dangers, but Jayden thought they went just because they were bored and wanted to expended their energy. Sometimes Drayden asked her to go with them, but she said no. She wasn't sure why, but she held herself back from going anywhere with Drayden. Maybe she was afraid it would actually be fun. The peach lion never took it personally, he just went on with Koru.

On the fifth day on the road, Jayden tried to estimate how much longer the trip would be. She remembered Koru's words to Vitani and the family before they left, "_It takes several days to get there, and that's with no resting."_

Since the Pride had to stopped so frequently to rest, eat and sleep -all for Tempest's sake- the trip there would go from several days -3 to 4-to 7 to 8 days. It was quite the hold up. But all this time allowed Jayden to think about her predicament. The first four days she became more nervous with each step that brought her closer to the Pride Lands. Yesterday, she told herself it had to stop, and she had to think of a way to get used to the idea of seeing Dark again. It was happening and she was going to deal with it somehow.

Today she thought of a plan.

_When we get there, and I see him, I'll just act all cool. Like I just saw him yesterday. I'll just say "hi" or even "good to see you again." Yeah… I can do that. Then I can go say hello to someone else, or even stay with Mom and Dad or with Tempest as an excuse. I think if I can just get used to him being an ordinary lion, an ordinary member of the Pride, I can get over him. Even if he has a girlfriend._

Jayden's back straightened. _Yeah! So what if he's moved on? I'll act like I've moved on, and eventually I will. I can just stay away from him for the most part and it'll be easy._

Jayden felt relieved now that she reached this agreement with herself. Just in time too, cause Drayden and Koru came up to her.

"Come with us today, Jayden." Drayden said.

"Yeah, we get bored racing just us two." Koru added. "And Dayya's to lazy to come."

Today, Jayden smiled, and sped up. "Alright, why not?"

* * *

**Author note: For those of you already saying you wish they were in the Pride Lands, all I can say is just hang in there, because it takes some time for them to get there. Not forever. But just be patient. For those who have shown they are just enjoying the ride no matter where the lions are in my story, thank you! I hope everyone enjoyed, see yall next time.**


	6. Leopard Road Block

Chapter 6: Leopard Road Block

Jayden did have fun with her brother and Drayden as they scouted ahead of the rest of the Pride. They had already raced twice. Drayden won the first time and Koru the second. Jayden decided running was not her strong suit, but she did have fun trying anyway.

The three walked for a bit, not talking about much of anything. After a while, Jayden asked, "When do we turn back?"

Koru shrugged, "Whenever. We can go now, we've probably gone far enough."

"Alright." She said, and they began turning the opposite way.

"Wait." Drayden said, "Look." His ice blue eyes trained on something in the grass in the direction they had been walking.

Jayden looked, and saw nothing at first, but then the tall yellow grass some yards away shifted a bit. An animal must be laying there, but she couldn't see what. The grasses shifted again.

"Who's there?" Koru said. When there was no reply, only grasses shifting again, Koru added, "We know you're there, we can see you."

"You can't see me, Lion-boy." Came a gruff voice.

_Well that's true._ Jayden thought. They only knew someone had been there because of the grass. Jayden still couldn't make out any shape of the animal.

"Who are you? Come out." Koru continued.

"Why should I? Why don't _you_ come over here?" the mysterious voice from the grass said. The way he said the last question sounded threatening. It sounded like he was going to give them a nasty surprise if one of them walked over.

"It's a leopard." Drayden murmured to the other two.

_A leopard! _Jayden thought, squinting her eyes, looking for the mysterious big-cat. _No wonder I can't see him. Leopard's spots help them camouflage in tall grass. And when they're laying in it, they pretty much disappear. How was Drayden able to tell so quickly?_

Jayden finally saw an amber eye. It was staring at her and it blinked slowly. She grimaced when she remembered what else she knew about leopards.

Males are especially sensitive about their territory and aggressive. Not to mention: huge. Maybe not as big as a full grown lion, but still, a male leopard is no idle threat.

"You kids aren't thinking about coming in my territory, are you?" the leopard said, standing up.

Now Jayden could see everything above his legs clearly. Indeed he was large. Mostly a light orange color with lots of handsome black spots everywhere. His face was rather broad, especially the nose. He was attractive-for a leopard.

"We'll just be passing through." Koru said evenly.

"Not through my lands." The leopard said, starting to growl.

"Let me handle this." Jayden said, "Well if it's alright with you," she addressed the big-cat, "We can simply go around your lands. We have the rest of our pride coming behind us, we just need to pass through so we can get to the Pride Lands."

She mentioned the Pride Lands just incase he had heard of them. Maybe the Pride Lands' prestige would help them out with the aggressive leopard. But the leopard sneered at her.

"You can't intimidate me by pretending there's a whole pride of lions behind you."

"I wasn't trying to intim-"

"No one's coming through my lands!" The leopard shouted, baring his teeth and extending his claws.

"Then tell us how far we have to go around so we aren't going _through_ your lands!" Jayden said, shouting back.

"Yeah, just calm down, buddy." Drayden added.

"I _can't _calm down, there's three morons in my face, threatening my lands!"

Jayden was losing her temper, "We don't want to take your _crappy_ lands! We want to go _around!"_

The leopard leaped forward at Jayden with claws lashing. He hadn't met his mark, but Koru and Drayden still jumped forward to block him from hurting her. The leopard only bared his teeth and glared at them.

"He obviously can't come to reason." Drayden said.

"These types only understand one thing. Violence." Koru said.

"So fight." the leopard dared.

Koru rose his head, still meeting his rival's glare, then spoke to his sister, "Jayden, go back to the others, tell them to hurry through here. Drayden and I will have to chase this guy off."

"You can try!" he spat. "I'll never flee!"

"But they might be miles away." Jayden said, "It'll take me a while to get there."

"She _did_ seem like the slow type to me." The leopard quipped, with a mean toothy grin.

Jayden growled. "Besides, I'd love to tear this jerk a new one."

"Fine, Drayden, you go. You're faster anyway. Go now." Koru said.

The peach lion nodded, "Be careful." he said to them both, then he was gone.

"One down, two to go." the leopard said. "So come get some if you really want it."

"Why can't you be sensible?" Koru snarled. "Is it beyond your skill level to understand we mean not to take your lands?"

The spotted cat bared his teeth and jumped at Koru with claws outstretched. Koru was surprised by the leopard's sudden attack, so he wasn't prepared. His opponent's claws did rake the side of his face a little before Koru rose up to meet him. Koru roared and bit the leopard's neck. The leopard pulled away easily before the yellow lion got a good hold, and his spotted paws batted Koru's head repeatedly.

Koru backed up, dazed. The leopard's paws were huge, they had knocked Koru pretty hard. Jayden took this opportunity to jump in. She leaped on the spotted cat's large back. The brown lioness dug in her claws as hard as she could and tried to leave a few gashes with her teeth. The leopard didn't make it easy for her, of course, and he threw her off. She missed her feet and laded on her side. The leopard whirled and leaped on the lioness's exposed belly. Jayden roared in pain as the opponent's long claws pricked her tender belly.

Koru had recovered by now and rammed his own huge paw on the spotted cat's shoulder to unbalance him, then Koru quickly swiped again, this time in his opponent's face. The hit landed hard, the leopard screeched, and now had claw shaped wounds on his face just like Koru. The leopard roared in anger and pain, trying to use a paw to wipe blood that had splattered from the wound into his eye.

Koru stood before him. "Just give up. There's two of us and you're wounded."

"I won't give my lands to you!" snarled the leopard. He leaped at Koru again, but Koru batted him aside.

Jayden shouted, "We _DON'T_ want to take them!"

The leopard either didn't hear, or didn't listen and tried again to leap at Koru. Koru slashed him with his claws, and Jayden jumped in too. Dodging his flinging back feet, Jayden managed to grab his thick spotted tail in her mouth. She sunk her teeth in and yanked as hard as she could. Their opponent yowled and whirled his head around, slashing without looking. Jayden moved quickly, staying behind the furious leopard, the tail still in her mouth. She could tell it was really hurting him. Maybe he had injured it in the past and Jayden's biting and yanking was bringing back old pains.

"Let go of my tail!" The leopard half ordered, half begged her.

"Nuh um." Jayden said, her voice muffled by the thick tail.

The leopard let out a shrieking yowl that pierced Jayden's ears. She could hear Koru chuckling a bit. She knew she must look pretty silly, but she knew she had to get the big-cat to surrender or leave the scene until the Pride could pass through.

"Ahhhhhrrrrr!" The spotted cat yowled. "Let GO!"

"Let our family pass, and she'll let go." Koru said.

The leopard made one last attempt to attack Jayden with his claws, he did slice her shoulder a little before she dodged around him again. She yanked again. He repeated his shriek and made an attempt to get away from Jayden. She took this as his way of surrendering, so she let go. The leopard bolted away and didn't look back.

Jayden and Koru both chased after him for several paces, just to make their point. They stopped when they were sure the leopard was gone.

They stared after the spotted cat for a while in silence. Then Koru spoke, "Well that was easy."

"_Easy?"_ Jayden gaped at her older brother. "that was the most stubborn creature I've ever come across!"

"Second most for me." he said giving her a meaningful look. She rolled her eyes.

"Funny. Let's go."

"Who knew Leopards were so sensitive about their tails?" Koru said as he and his sister headed back to where they first met the leopard.

"I think it had just mended from being broken." Jayden said. "It had an odd bulge in the middle. Sort of crooked too."

"No wonder it was so tender."

Jayden nodded in agreement.

When the two got back to the place where they fought the leopard, they rested and cleaned their wounds. The damage was minimal: just a few shallow scratches on Koru's face, and Jayden's stomach and shoulder. They rested until their family, led by Drayden approached with quickness in their steps.

"Is he gone?" Drayden asked.

"Yes, he's been taken care of." Koru replied. Tome walked up to his son and daughter.

"You fought the leopard?"

Koru and Jayden nodded.

Tome inspected them. "Well, only a few scratches here and there. So I don't need to ask if you're okay. Let's keep moving everyone."

Jayden didn't expect to be coddled by her father. He was the type of lion that believed any scratches or wounds were earned. Unless of course they were serious wounds like the one on Tempest's back.

The brown lioness paced to Tempest's side. She was moving along with the Pride, looking a little tired.

"How are you doing?" she asked her older sister.

"Alright." Tempest sighed. "I just wish we'd get there already. How much father is it?"

Jayden appreciated Tempest asked her even though Tempest knew the way just as well as she did. "Well we are five days in. I predict two to three more days at the pace we're going with all the rests." Jayden stopped. _I hope I didn't make Tempest think we are inconvenienced because of her…_

"I wish we could go faster…" Tempest said. "But I just don't think I can."

"Oh, no Tempest, no one expects you to. You need all the rests you can get. Rushing will only worsen your condition."

"I know."

"We'll get there and Mairu will get you all fixed up."

Dayya came trotting over from where she was walking with Vitani.

"Are we _there_ yet?" she said comically. Her sisters laughed. "Mother asked me to ask you if you needed a rest." Dayya said, looking at Tempest.

She seemed to think about it for a moment, then, "No I can keep going for a while."

Jayden could tell the light cream lioness did want to stop, but her desire to get there made her keep going. "No rushing, remember, Temp?" Jayden said.

"Yes, yes, I know. I'll say when I need to rest, I promise."

"Good." Dayya said, then changed the subject. "By the way, Jayden, what was the leopard like?"

Jayden took on a light tone, "Oh he was tall… handsome…."

Dayya's eyes got dreamy, "_Really_?"

"No! Jeez! He was a pompous stubborn brat. He kept thinking we were trying to take over his lands. I tried explaining we were only passing through, or could even go around, but he wouldn't hear it."

"Oh… so he _wasn't_ handsome?" Dayya asked.

Tempest laughed and Jayden rolled her eyes. Why did Dayya always think about boys? _Well I'm NOT mentioning that he was slightly handsome, cuz then I'll have to go into a perfect description of his features._

"Speaking of handsome… I have a new subject to bring up. And I can finally say it since Mani is walking over by Father and Drayden." The red-cream lioness said, smiling and green eyes shining.

"Oh Kings, this must be a fun subject about boys if Mani wasn't allowed." Tempest said with a smirk.

"Yes of _course_ boys! We're about to see all our old friends again, aren't we? Some of them boys! What if they're cute now?"

Jayden gulped. "Like who?"

"Did you forget? All the boys in the Pride, Malowa, Clous, Dark, Kivu, Jai…Duh!"

Jayden's heart leaped when Dark's name was said, but she remembered her promise she made to herself about acting as if Dark was just any old friend, so she played along.

"Well Clous and Kivu are our cousins." Jayden said.

"Yeah, so?" The red-cream lioness replied. "They can still be cute. That doesn't mean I want them to be my boyfriend or something! Who do you think will be the cutest?"

Jayden tried to imagine all the boys as a adults. Full manes, large chins. Large muscles…broad backs and large paws. It was hard, and she got stuck on Malowa. He seemed like such a young cub, though he wasn't that much younger than herself. He was kind of known as the "mamma's boy" so it was hard to imagine him grown up.

"Jai." Tempest said.

"Huh?"

"That's who I think would be the cutest."

"Jay!" Dayya exclaimed. "Well maybe. Who do you think, Jayden?"

"Um…" She knew her answer. And it wasn't just because she used to be in love with him. She knew Dark would be the most handsome. Likely, he would be the most muscular too. His lineage would make sure of that.

But she didn't want to say it. She felt like she was about to blush. _Why shouldn't I say it though? Just cuz I say he's handsome doesn't mean I'm saying I'm in love with him. Tempest just said Jai would be cute, and of course we don't think anything of it. This is an innocent enough conversation to just say he's cute and be done…_

Just when Jayden was about to open her mouth, Dayya spoke first,

"My vote would be for Dark."

Jayden shut her mouth and sighed quietly.

"I think black manes are hot!" Dayya said, adding a little jump to her pace.

"All black manes?" Tempest cut in, "You mean like Dad's? Or Koru's?"

"Er… no! Not them. And Koru's hair is brown!"

"Well there's a bit of black at the bottom."

"I guess. But I don't mean them, I just mean Dark."

"We'll see when we get there, I guess." Jayden finally spoke, kind of relieved. She was even more relieved when Mani started to walk over.

"Looks like this convo has to be shortened, cuz here comes Mani." Tempest said. "He's the cutest lion ever, by the way!"

"Aw how sweet." Mani said as he arrived, and licked Tempest's cheek. "You doin' okay?"

"Yes, Mani."

"Your dad says we are taking a break soon weather you say you're ready or not."

Tempest growled softly.

"Hang in there." Mani said, looking off into the distance. "We're getting there."


	7. Old Friends

**Author's Note: Sorry for my absence everyone…there's been a huge family issue going on with me lately. Sorry to sound dramatic, but it's literally a life and death situation for someone in my family, and I'm the one that has to take care of her now. I don't really like to talk about very personal things online, but I will say it was my mom that this thing is happening to, so you can kind of tell how important it is.  
So If I'm kind of lacking in uploads for a while, you can just get a microscopically small idea of what I'm going through right now.**

**That's all I'll say, we can go on to the story now.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Old Friends

After two more days of travelling, the journey for Vitani's Pride was coming to an end. Tempest's energy had just about run out. For the last day, she had been travelling slower than usual, with her head lowered. She had lost her appetite too, and barely ate. She could only stomach a few bites of prey when encouraged by her family before she got nauseous.

The old lioness, Larne was extremely nervous about Tempest's condition. She didn't know enough about health and medicine to know if the trip made the young lioness worse, or if the blood poisoning had begun to take hold. She needed Mairu's knowledge.

Finally the Pride was only minutes from the Prideland's border.

Jayden was walking with Tempest, watching her carefully, when the pale colored lioness rose her tired head. "I think I can smell it. It's Pridelanders." She smiled slightly.

"Smells like home." Mani, from Tempest's other side said quietly.

Vitani trotted over to them with Dayya at her side. "Smell that? It's the Pridelands." She smiled. She seemed excited to get there too. "Jayden, you and Dayya go ahead of us and warn them we're coming. Find someone who can locate Mairu right away. _No distractions_." Vitani said looking at Dayya.

"Why are you looking at _me_?" Dayya protested.

"Because you're the one that is known to be a chatterbox," her mother said simply. "Now be gone, both of you."

Jayden and Dayya didn't have to be told twice. They ran as far and fast as they could. They passed into the Prideland border after just a minute.

"I smell something." Jayden observed, still running.

"I think Kivu was just here! I can still remember his scent." Dayya said. "Maybe we can catch him if he's still nearby!"

Jayden nodded. They didn't see Kivu anywhere, but they kept going. They were bound to find someone soon. They did find plenty of familiar trees, bushes and rocks. Even the chirping of the birds and bugs sounded familiar.

After several minutes, the girls had to rest. They didn't allow themselves to stop completely, but they slowed to a trot. Their breathing was labored.

Jayden was beginning to feel nervous again. She would certainly be seeing Dark soon. _Just say hi. Just say hi. _She told herself. She felt herself calming the more she repeated it. _It's going to be fine, just fine._

The sisters kept going into the Pridelands, not seeing Kivu or any other lion. They passed a few herds of zebra and gazelle. Suddenly, there were hard paws approaching them quickly from behind.

"Stop!" came a familiar male lion's voice. "Just where do you—" As Jayden and Dayya turned to face the lion, his sentence halted. The sisters lit up. It was Kivu. He said, "I think I know you…" he stared at their faces.

"Kivu!" Dayya said smiling, "Don't recognize your own cousins?"

His face lit up too. "Of course I do! Dayya and Jayden all grown up, it's great to see you!" he butted heads gently with both of them. Both girls smiled ear to ear. Jayden was surprised how good it felt to see him again. He was taller and more muscular. He looked like a perfect mix between Simba and Kovu. Kivu's mane had grown in fully. It was very thick and mature. He had a tunnel-like bang on the top of his head like Simba's but it was only one instead of two. The other side was shorter and just hung limply on the side of his face. Kivu still had his telltale hair curl that pointed back toward his ear. His ears still had the dark rims that had been there since cub hood.

"What are you two doing here? Is the rest of the family here too?" He said, craning his neck in the direction they came.

Jayden spoke up, knowing she could explain faster than Dayya would or could. "Yes, they're here too. Our visit isn't entirely a happy one, though. Tempest has an infection, we need Mairu to see her right away."

Kivu became serious, his smile went away. "Mairu's at the den right now, I'll escort you and the family there. Take me to them."

Dayya and Jayden quickly led Kivu to the rest of the Pride. They had just made it over the border when they met up.

"Kivu!" Mani shouted once he saw his old friend.

"Hey!" Kivu ran at Mani, and the two embrased quickly. Mani ruffled the top of Kivu's mane and Kivu growled, swatting Mani's broad shoulder.

"Break it up, you two!" a tired voice with laughter in it split them up.

"Tempest!" Kivu said, turning to her and nuzzling his cousin.

"Hey." She replied with a smile.

"Jayden and Dayya told me you aren't doing too well." Kivu became serious again. "We should get you to Mairu."

"She's got an infection from a wound on her back." Vitani reported as she stepped over. "Hello Kivu."

"Aunt Vitani, it's great to see you." He smiled.

"Yes, very nice seeing you too. Look at you, all grown up. You look just like my brother."

Kivu beamed. Kivu greeted Koru and Larne, and was quickly introduced to Drayden. Time was of the essence, so they didn't linger in one spot. They moved on quickly.

Soon, Pride Rock was in sight, and then it loomed over them in its usual tall glory. A few lionesses lay around the base. One shouted: "Is that Vitani?"

"It is! It's her whole Pride!" Another said.

Jayden hadn't seen Dark yet, but she knew with all this commotion everyone would be drawn at once.

"Go upstairs." Kivu told Tempest. "I'll help you." He raced to her side. She thankfully let Mani and Kivu guide her up the stairs. It was clear the wounded lioness's energy had run out. Vitani followed closely. Kivu turned his head back to the rest of Vitani's Pride. "You all rest or eat. Make yourselves at home!"

"Well, duh!" Dayya sang, "This used to be our home once, afterall!"

Some lionesses that had gathered laughed, then began welcoming the Pride. Tome introduced Drayden to any Pridelander that came over. While Jayden was saying _hello_ and polite _thank you_s to the lionesses when they complimented her on how grown up and beautiful she had become, she saw a large black lion laying with his back facing her some yards away by a tree. It was Dark. Her heart leaped a little.

_It's him._ She thought. _Just say hello if he comes over._ She reminded herself.

A lioness suddenly came in front of her. "Oh, Jayden, I thought that was you."

"Tali!" Jayden blurted, her eyes widening. The brown lioness was more beautiful than she remembered. She had been adult aged last time she'd seen her, but somehow now she seemed even more mature. Maybe even taller and leaner. Her sky blue eyes shined with excitement.  
"You look great!" Jayden told her, unable to hold it in.

"Aw, thank you. You've gotten tall!" she replied. "You look great too, Jayden."

Jayden blushed.

"My brother must be with you." She said, looking over the dark brown lioness's shoulder. Mani had his back turned to them, he was talking with his mother, Kanai. "There he is, I've missed that ham." Tali said, smiling. "And he's already found our mother, excuse me, will you? It was nice to see you again, and welcome back!"

"Thank you." Jayden replied, turning her head back to watch the light brown lioness hustle over to her brother and mother. Tali slapped a paw on his back, and Mani whirled around to face her.

"HEY!" he said with a huge grin, and nuzzled her. Kanai watched with a smile and a tear.

"Jayden?" A familiar voice came in front of her. She knew who it was before she could whip her head forward. The scent of soft rain had come over her. That could only be one lion.

"D-Dark." She stuttered, and let out a weird nervous laugh. _What was my line again?!_

"Hi." He said with a small smile.

_Oh right…_ "Hi." She cleared her throat, and smiled a little too. _Normal friends. That's all we are._

"You're whole Pride is here." He said, looking behind her. Dark had grown. He was large, indeed, but didn't appear menacing like the Black Pride male Blood did. His mane was full, but stopped on the middle of his chest. It was a young mane, not like Mani's or her father's that travelled all the way down their chests and under the arms. His eyes of course were still that beautiful gray-blue. They looked kind.

_Speak. _She told herself.

_Huh? _

_Words. Speak words._

_"_Yes, um, Tempest is sick." She blurted. "We need Mairu to look at her. Larne did what she could but she's afraid it's blood poisoning."

Dark's eyes widened. "Oh no, how did—"

"DAAAARK!" a voice shrieked. A flash of pale red fur dashed over to them and practically leaped on Dark.

Jayden took a few steps back as she watched Dayya give Dark a big hug.

"Dark, I missed you!"

"Hey Dayya!" he replied.

"You look so handsome with your grown up mane!" she nuzzled him. He chuckled. Jayden felt the burn of jealousy. That's exactly what she had thought when she first saw him, but there was no way she would have said it. _It's not fair… she can just jump on him and say anything…what if I wanted to hug him? No, we're only friends of course. So does Dayya believe her and Dark are more than friends? Does she still expect him to fulfill that promise she made to him about being a couple?_

Jayden watched Dark and Dayya talk to see if she would mention it. Dayya was saying, "How is your mother?"

"She's well, would you like to visit her? She's just sitting over there." Dark said, gesturing with his tail behind them. Jayden could see a light gray shape laying under a tree.

"That would be nice!" Dayya said.

"You coming, Jayden?" Dark said, turning his eyes on her.

"Oh. Um,"

"Hey!" A male voice sounded to Jayden's right. A burnt orange colored lion with a pale red mane walked over. He had a telltale curl at the top of his mane. The top tuft stood slightly, and flopped over at the tip, like his father Kovu.

"Clous?" Jayden said, very glad for the distraction.

"Hey cousins!" Clous said, bumping heads with Jayden, then Dayya. It was so good to see Clous again. Jayden suddenly remembered the last thing Clous had said to her before they left the Pridelands almost two years ago.

_You love him don't you?_

Clous somehow knew about her feelings for Dark back then. Maybe that's why he had walked over now.

Clous asked the same question Dark had, "What are you doing here?" And he got the same answer about Tempest.

"I'm sure that she's here now, Mairu will be fixing her right up." Dayya said to Clous.

"She hasn't lost her touch at all." The red manned lion said. "I was sick just a week ago, she got me going again in no time. Oh and did you know Tali knows a lot about medicine now too?"

"Oh yes, she had been learning things just before we left, I believe." Jayden said.

"Woah, hey!" A lioness walked up from behind Clous. She stopped by his side. She was grey with dark grey spots under her left eye. Her eyes were red-orange…or were they orange-red? This was either Zuna or Zula, but she couldn't tell which one. She was a grown up version of one of the twins, that much was for sure. "It's our long lost friends, Dayya and Jayden!" Zuna or Zula said.

"Hey Darling." Clous said with a huge grin, and nuzzled the grey lioness. "How my Zuna today?"

The lioness laughed. "You _know_ I'm not Zuna."

"What?" Clous played innocent. Jayden could tell he was messing around.

The other grey twin walked over then. "Don't pretend you can't tell us apart!" she said.

"It's not my fault you two are identical." Clous teased.

Jayden laughed as the orange lion licked the other lioness on the cheek.

"So you and Zuna are dating now?" Jayden asked.

"Honestly, I'm not sure _which_ one I'm dating." He replied.

Zuna on Clous's left scoffed and looked at him with a disbelieving expression. Zula just laughed and said, "Oh quit that!"

"I'm just kidding around, my dear." Clous said when he noticed Zuna's miffed expression, and nuzzled her.

"Those two are made for each other." Zula said, gesturing at her sister and Clous.

"They're never apart." Dark commented. Suddenly, Jayden felt a warm furry object ran into her legs.

"Watch where you're going!" came a voice. It was a cub! She was a pale peach-orange color with fluffy cheeks, a pointed light brown nose, and angry looking yellow eyes.

"Excuse me…" Jayden said, lifting her paw. The she-cub seemed so small. Jayden hadn't seen a cub in a long time. The last time she saw one was when she was a cub herself, back here in the Pridelands. Jayden watched the little peach-orange cub stalk away.

She heard Clous sigh.

"Who was that?" Jayden asked.

"That would be my little sister, Afia. She's a ball of energy, that's for sure. I need to go watch her since it appears she's escaped my mother. See you all later." Clous trotted after his little sister. Zuna followed after smiling and nodding a quick goodbye.

"We're about to visit mom." Dark said to Zula. "Are you coming?"

Dayya nodded, looking eager to move.

"Well I'd like to introduce Jayden to our other new members. Taeliss and Mebala are good friends of mine." She was saying to Jayden. "I'd love for you to meet them."

"Sure!" Jayden said.

"Alright, catch you later." Dayya said, heading toward where Sanu lay. "Come on Dark!"

Dark hesitated a moment, then went with her. Jayden thankfully followed Zula in the opposite direction.

"So who are Taeliss and Mebala?" Jayden asked.

"Taeliss is Tikana's cub, and Mebala is Tamani's. Remember they were expecting before you left the Pridelands?"

"Oh yes." Jayden said, her thoughts flying. She remembered when she was concerned Dark could fall in love while she was away, she worried that Tikana and Tamani might have girls. She had wished they would have boys so there would be no chance Dark would fall for someone else. Of course both turned out to be girls! _What if Dark is dating one of them?_ Jayden thought. _No, surely he would have wanted to come when Zula said we are going to meet them…right?_

Zula's voice brought the brown lioness fom her thoughts. "Well I shouldn't say cubs. Mebala and Taeliss are almost two years old now. I guess older adolescent is the better phrase. Oh, you haven't met Nundi either, have you?

"No."

"How exciting! Well he usually chills near here, so we'll meet him first. This way." Zula said, steering them suddenly to their left. They walked straight to some large baobab trees. Jayden noticed a shape of a lion lying in the low branched tree. "He likes to lay in this tree like he owns it." Zula snickered.

They approached. "Hey Nundi! Are you asleep?" Zula shouted.

"Well I was." The lion picked up his head and looked at the ladies. Nundi was an adolescent, he had a thick tuft of fur on his chest, and hair on the back of his neck. His fur was light gold, with an orange-gold mane. Jayden found it hard to describe. He had a pointed black nose, and deep-deep blue eyes. He reminded her of someone.

"Nundi, this is Jayden. Do you remember the stories about Vitani? Well this is one of Vitani's daughters. Vitani and her family are here to visit because Jayden's sister is ill. I just brought her by to meet you."

"Oh." Nundi said, barely looking interested.

"Nundi is Jai Senior's son. That makes him Ciara and Jai's younger brother. He was born shortly after you left the Pridelands." Zula explained to Jayden.

"Oh! That would be why you look famililar. Hello Nundi." Jayden said politely.

"Nice to meet you." He managed. "I hear stories of Vitani all the time. Is it true she's scary?"

"Sometimes." Jayden replied.

"You can find out!" Zula said. "You'll meet her eventually if they're staying here for a while."

"Sounds exciting." He said, and despite saying I t, he didn't sound a bit excited. He put his head back on his paws and closed his eyes.

"See you around." Zula said, and walked away. Jayden followed. "We're off to meet the girls now."


	8. New Friends

Chapter 8: New Friends

"So do you like Nundi?" Jayden dared to ask as she followed her scruffy furred friend, Zula.

"Did it seem like I did?" she asked, turning her orange-red eyes on her.

Jayden shrugged.

"Well, I don't really like him like that. We're just friends. I don't really know him that well."

"Oh," Jayden said, nodding.

"Just a little farther and we'll meet my friends." Zula said. They walked on for a minute more until they came upon a group of sunning rocks. These rocks weren't used as much as the ones around Pride Rock, but it looked as if these lionesses used them regularly.

Three lionesses were on the rocks. Two were laying and one was standing on the ground beside the rocks. All three lioness's ears were perked up, looking at Jayden and Zula.

"Hello!" one of them called when they were closer. Jayden recognized the gold-brown lioness with a dark red tail tuft and purple eyes, Tamani, as the one standing beside the rock. She must be standing by her daughter, Mebala. The two younger lionesses were nearly full grown size, but by their age were still adolescents. They probably had their huntress tests not too long ago.

Zula introduced Jayden to them, and again explained why Jayden and her pride were here. Mebala was a darker version of her mother. She was dark gold-brown but with light brown eyes and a darker red-brown tail tuft. Taeliss was a color difficult to describe: a light gray-peach. She had a dark gray tail tuft and bright blue eyes, with outlander facial features. If Jayden remembered right, Taeliss's mother, Tikana, was a medium to dark gray, and used to be an Outlander, so that would explain the outlander-like eye markings and pointed nose.

"It would be nice to see Vitani again." Tamani said, standing. "I'll gather Tikana and see if she would like to visit our old friend. Good to see you, Jayden, you're so grown up now!" The gold-brown lioness smiled. Jayden thanked her, and the lioness dismissed herself to find her friend.

"Say, Jayden." Mebala said, "Did you bring any boys with you?"

"Yeah, boys! Did you?" Taeliss added.

Zula rolled her eyes.

Jayden laughed. "Yes, one is my brother, Koru, one is my sister's mate, Mani, and the last one is Drayden. He's a lion who joined our pride not too long ago."

"Is he cute?" Taeliss said, giggling.

"Uh…" Jayden hesitated. Was Drayden cute? "I suppose."

"You suppose?" Mebala asked. "That's all?"

"Why do you almost have the same name?" Taeliss asked. "Did your mom run out of names when you two were born? Or was she going for the cute twin-rhyming name thing?"

"Dummy," Zula said, reaching up and swatting the peach-gray lioness's side. "Drayden's not her brother, Koru is. And they aren't even twins, right?" she turned to Jayden.

"Right, Koru is older than me. My twin is Dayya. My mother didn't make our names rhyme, though she did put a 'ay' sound in each our names."

"So Drayden's name is a coincidence?"

"Yeah."

"Forget the name, all I wanna know is: Is Drayden spoken for?" Taeliss said looking eager.

"He's not even the same age as you!" Zula said, exasperated.

"Almost!" she replied.

"Please. Be quiet." Zula said. "All you adolescents can talk about is boys."

"Don't act like you don't like boys!" Taeliss said, her bright blue eyes narrowed.

"Yeah! We see the way you look at Clous!" Mebala added.

"Please." Zula said again. "Clous is my sister's boyfriend. That is all."

"Whatever." Mebala said, not believing her.

"Why am I friends with them?" Zula asked Jayden playfully.

Jayden laughed again, so glad to be swept away in their banter. Her heart was finally calming down after seeing Dark. The girls talked on for a while. Jayden sat down, feeling tired from her trek.

She felt she did pretty good on the meeting with Dark. She hadn't blurted anything she hadn't meant to. She didn't stare excessively or babble.

_I did laugh a little too much… _She realized and blushed_. Why am I over-analyzing this anyway? Get back into the conversation._

When there was a lull in the conversation, Jayden asked, "So have I met everyone new to the Pridelands since I've been gone?"

"You met us, what more could you want?" Taeliss joked, pressing a paw to her chest.

"You ham head." Mebala said. Then to Jayden, "You met Nundi?"

"Yes, I took her to his tree." Zula said.

"Nundi and his special tree." Mebala shook her head.

"And I met Afia." Jayden said. "She was…cute."

Jayden's hesitation made the other three girls burst out laughing. Jayden joined in.

"She's a little ball of fury." Mebala commented.

"How'd she get such an attitude anyway?" Taeliss asked.

"It's a mystery." Zula answered. "Her parents are so nice, I dunno where she gets it."

"How are the King and Queen anyway?" Jayden asked, "Or are Kivu and Ciara the royals now? I didn't get a chance to talk to Kivu much earlier."

"Not yet." Zula replied. "They are to be married soon, though. In front of the whole pride."

"Woah." Jayden said.

"I know. Kiara and Kovu are well. Afia's birth was much easier than Clous's. I don't know if you heard that story, but Kiara had a pretty hard time with Clous. Well you were there when he was born, I was just a newborn myself." Zula laughed.

"Yes, I remember. She was very tired all the time which made her inactive. She didn't join the training much because of it." Jayden added.

"Yes, that's right."

"Don't start any scary training stories." Taeliss said.

"You mean, no scary Vitani stories." Mebala joked.

"You think my mother is scary too?" Jayden giggled.

"You haven't even met her!" Zula said. "She's a nice lady, sheesh."

Jayden smirked. Her mother did come off as stern to most, and sometimes became cross, but really she was gentle and had a sweet voice… when she wasn't angry.

"How 'bout some scary Black Pride stories." Taeliss said, looking at Jayden. "You were there at one point, weren't you? At the battle. The battle happened before we were born, so we've only heard stories. What was it like? The Black Pride?"

Jayden's thoughts went back in time. She was crouched in a bush, leaves blocking her view. She pushed them aside to watch the Pridelanders confront the Black Pride. She learned the Black Pride lion, Blood was Dark's father, and one of the black lionesses was his mother. She had watched Blood strike the weak lioness, and Dark had run from out of no where to her side. Jayden couldn't hear what was said, but she said the black cub crying. Jayden never saw any of the actual fighting. She had followed Sanu when she was ordered to take Dark home. She remembered hearing fighting, snarling, growling sounds behind her, but she hadn't looked back.

Jayden laid down before speaking. "The Black Pride was… well… frightening. I have no better word. I didn't see any of the fighting, but I did see their leader, Blood. Well he actually didn't turn out to be the true leader."

"The lioness was." Mebala said, nodding. She had heard the story.

"Yes, both were frightening. And black as night."

"Like Dark." Taeliss said without thinking. Her gold friend shoved her in the shoulder and said "Shhh!"

"Dark's not like them." Zula snapped, defending her adoptive brother.

"I know, I'm sorry." Taeliss amended.

Zula's gaze softened. "It's okay. My brother gets bothered when someone compares him to that evil Pride. And I do too."

"Well it's over now, Dark's the only true black lion left." Jayden heard herself saying. "And he's as pure as clear water."

_Or rain._ She thought, remembering his distinctive watery scent.

"Exactly." Zula said.

"He is a good guy." Mebala said.

Jayden looked at her. _What kind of comment is that? Is she interested in him?_

"Wait!" Zula suddenly blurted. "We've forgotten someone! There's someone you haven't met yet, I just realized."

"Oops. No one tell her we forgot her." Taeliss said, looking embarrassed.

"Who?" Jayden said.

"Ahila. She's a new member. An adolescent, younger than these two." Zula pointed with her tail.

"Oh. Who's cub is she?" Jayden asked. _Another female? …Great…_

"No one's. Well, no one here. She came to the pride a year ago when she was just a cub. Her mother was with her, but she was ill. She passed away only days after being in the Pride." Taeliss supplied.

Jayden's heart lurched with the sad news. "That's terrible, what happened to the mother? What was wrong with her?"

"I'm not sure." Taeliss said.

Mebala spoke up, "She had been kicked in the stomach by an antelope while hunting. Kicked hard."

"She was coughing up blood." Zula added.

"Ew." Taeliss blurted. "I mean, poor thing."

"Really, you should show more sympathy for the dead!" Zula said to her younger friend.

"Yes, Mom."

Zula only tossed her head in the opposite direction in indignation.

"I want to go meet everyone from your pride, Jayden." Mebala said.

"Alright, we can do that." Jayden said, then a yawn escaped her jaws.

Taeliss and Mebala began standing up but Zula said, "Wait, Jayden is tired, she just traveled a long way in a short time. She should rest for a while."

"Oh no, I'm quite fine." The brown lioness said, though now that she thought about it, she was very sleepy.

"Come on, just take a nap." Zula suggested.

"These rock here are really comfortable." Taeliss said, getting up and jumping off the rock. "Rest there. We'll meet your pride ourselves."

"Are you sure that's okay?" Jayden said.

"Of course." Mebala answered, moving off the rock too.

"Yes, rest now. We'll check with Ciara or Kiara about lunch." Zula said.

Jayden jumped onto the large flat rock and made herself comfortable. "Well thank you."

"No problem." Zula replied, and the three lionesses walked away toward Pride Rock.

Jayden closed her eyes, feeling really pleased. I made new friends! Well Zula was always a friend when we were cubs. Though we weren't particularly close. I'm really glad it seems now we can be close friends.

The other two are fun as well. Taeliss kind of blurts out things before thinking, but she's means well. Mebala is really funny. They seem as close as sisters. Their mothers were very close friends too, if I remember right, so that might have something to do with it.

Jayden let her mind wander as she dozed off, this time without thinking of Dark at all.

* * *

**Author Note:**  
**If you'd like to see a picture of Mebala and Taeliss, and all the girls in the Pride right now, there are two links to pictures of them in my Bio, I'm going to put them at the very very bottom, so just click on my name, Kiara32, and scroll all the way to the bottom to follow the links. You will have to copy/paste them into your browser to see them. Thanks!**


	9. Heart's Home

Chapter 9: Heart's Home

Jayden woke on the sunning rock feeling very refreshed. She wasn't sure how long she had been asleep, but it felt like time to get up. Her stomach growled.

She headed toward Pride Rock. When she got there, it was clear a hunting party had already set out and brought back lunch. And…it was already eaten.

Jayden forgot her manners, and dashed into the clearing at Pride Rock's base. "Oh no!" she began looking around the left over bones of a couple herd animals for scraps. "I missed it!"

"That's what you get for not being here when the kills were brought in." Vitani's voice came behind her.

Well I was resting. Jayden thought, but knew not to say it out loud. Footsteps to Jayden's right side approached. It was the dark peach lion, Malowa.

"No one left any?" he inquired. Jayden shook her head, Malowa looked hungry too. "I didn't get anything." he said.

"Me either. Nice seeing you again by the way." Jayden said politely. Malowa's mane was a darker shade of his fur. You could call it light brown. Jayden had forgotten the interesting bright light blue-green shade his eyes were.

"Glad you and your family are back." he smiled. "Though the food went kinda fast."

"We were hungry!" Dayya's voice came from behind Jayden. The red-cream lioness trotted over. "We had a long stressful trip, remember!"

"Not you again." Malowa said, sticking out his tongue at her.

"Yes, me! Get used to seeing my face, Malowa."

"But I just saw you ten minutes ago by the water hole."

"Too bad." Dayya stuck her tongue out at him too.

Jayden smirked. Now those two should be a couple. They were made for each other.

"How's Tempest?" Jayden asked before Dayya and Malowa could get into a bigger fight.

"Come visit her and see." Dayya said, leading her to the cave. Jayden followed, stepping easily up the stone stairs that used to seem so big when she was a cub. When they entered the den, it became quiet. Some sunlight streamed in, but mostly it was dark in there.  
In the back on a comfortable looking bed of grass and large leaves lay Tempest. At her side were Mairu, and Mani. Standing nearby were Kivu and Ciara. They were speaking quietly until the sisters walked up.

"Hello Jayden." Ciara said, dipping her head to her.

Woah. Jayden thought when she looked at the orange lioness. Ciara looked like a Queen. Her silky red head tuft shone brightly even in this dimness. She had grown longer and taller since she saw her last. She just looked so mature and pretty.

"It's n-nice to see you again." Jayden stammered shyly.

"Likewise." Ciara smiled. "I'm sorry we couldn't re-meet under happier circumstances." she looked down at Tempest's sleeping form. The gash on her back was now covered with leaves. Jayden detected the strong smell of medicine. Some orange juice leaked out from under the make-shift bandage.

"Is she alright?" Jayden asked Mairu. The old brown lioness nodded. "I believe so. I've cleaned the wound and put the medicine on her back to stave off the infection. She just needs rest and for someone to change the leaves every now and then.

"And the baby? Will it be okay?" Jayden asked.

"A baby!?" Kivu interrupted, looking surprised. "There's a baby?"

Tempest's tired voice came, "It was supposed to be a surprise."

"Oops," Jayden said.

"And they thought I would be the one who would ruin it." Dayya said.

"Well it's only ruined to me and Kivu." Ciara said, nuzzling Tempest's head softly. "Congratulations, Tempest!"

Tempest purred and nuzzled her friend back.

Kivu clapped Mani on the shoulder with a paw. "Way to go!"

"Sorry, Tempest." Jayden murmured.

"That's okay. It can still be a surprise to everybody else. Mairu already knew too."

"Yes, I've had enough experience to know when a lioness is expecting. You should go back to sleep now dear, you need all the rest you can get."

Tempest nodded, and reached out to touch Mani's paw. He stroked her hair with his other paw while she dozed off. Mairu motioned to Jayden and Dayya to follow her. Kivu and Ciara came as well. When they were far enough away, the old lioness looked at them with her red eyes.

"I'm a little worried about the cub." she said.

Jayden's heart sank. Crashed. "Torrent, no!" she whispered.

"Don't any of you say anything to Tempest or Mani." Mairu whispered to the sisters, and Ciara and Kivu. "I've done what I can for the wound, but if the cub was affected by it in any way, there's nothing I can do."

Dayya lowered her head sadly.

"But the cub could still make it, right?" Jayden asked.

"Yes, and I'd like to believe it's a high possibility. Tempest is young and strong. She's got spunk."

"More than she knows what to do with." Kivu added.

"If anyone can make it, Tempest's cub can." Ciara said. "He or she will have a part of Tempest's determination and a part of Mani's strength, so I know the cub will be fine."

"That's what I'm hoping for. Don't look so down." Mairu said to Dayya. Dayya lifted her head a little. "Remember what I said, Don't tell Tempest or Mani. I've already told your parents." Mairu said, looking at the sisters. "I just don't want them to worry over nothing if the cub ends up being okay. I should be able to tell how it's doing with time."

The sisters nodded, and with that, Mairu exited the cave, saying she would be back to check on Tempest in a short time. Kivu, Ciara, Dayya and Jayden left the cave too.

"I hope everything goes okay…" Dayya said, still looking a little down.

"Mairu seemed optimistic." Ciara said to her, calmly blinking her green eyes. "It's not like you to be the pessimistic one, Dayya. You were always happy and lively as a cub."

Dayya made an embarrassed laugh, "Yeah, I know."

"She's still like that." Jayden commented, trying to cheer Dayya up.

"I am, just not when my new niece or nephew is in peril. I haven't even known that long that I'm about to be an aunt, but I've already grown to like the idea. It's so unfair, why did this happen to Tempest!"

"Just keep a positive attitude." Kivu said, patting his younger cousin on the shoulder. She nodded.

Jayden couldn't help be stare at Ciara and Kivu. They both seemed so adult and regal.

"Sorry if this is a dumb question but…" Jayden blurted before she could stop herself, "How come you two aren't King and Queen now? You just seem so…royal."

"I thought the same thing!" Dayya said as Kivu and Ciara shared a smile.

"My father says he may pass the title soon, but not now. I'm not sure what he's waiting for, but Ciara and I are still enjoying our time as Prince and Princess, aren't we?" Kivu nudged the beautiful orange lioness.

"Well I'm not technically…I mean, of course." she smiled.

"Are they doing well? Your parents?" Jayden inquired, figuring it was polite to ask them even though she knew the answer from Zula.

"Oh sure." the Prince replied. "Still spry in their old age." he chuckled.

"They're not old." Ciara said, nudging Kivu's shoulder.

"I know, I was only teasing. Did you hear they have a new cub?" he asked Jayden.

"Oh yes. We…met."

"Afia ran right into Jayden's legs." Dayya reported.

"And didn't say sorry, I bet." Kivu said, shaking his head. "I don't know what to do with that kid."

Jayden just laughed.

"Kivu, we mustn't be late." Ciara said to him.

"Yes, of course, excuse us, we are meeting mom and dad now on the border behind Pride Rock for a stroll." Kivu and Ciara waved goodbye with their tails and exited down the stone steps. To Jayden they seemed like King and Queen already.

"So what have you been up to since we got here?" Dayya asked her sister.

"Zula introduced me to Nundi, Mebala and Taeliss. I didn't talk to Nundi much, but Mebala and Taeliss are really nice and funny. Did you meet them yet?"

"Briefly. Did you meet Ahila?"

"No I havn't seen her."

"Me either, but Dark told me about her. That's where I've been, with Dark." she seemed to cheer up a bit, "Dark is so cute now that he's all grown up! Well he was cute before too, but now he's like…way cute."

"Oh… uh…" Jayden said, not knowing what to say. It didn't matter, because Dayya went on.

"I really missed him. I didn't realize how much I did until I started hanging around him."

"Oh yeah? Well how's his mother doing?" The brown lioness asked, hoping to change the subject. This one had her heart pounding.

"Good, of course. Those scars she had on her back, remember? They're nearly faded now."

"Oh, that's great." Jayden had to think fast. Sanu had scars? Oh yes, I remember the story. Sanu had been attacked and tortured by a black lion named Death a long time ago. That was before even Kivu was born. Jayden didn't feel bad for not remembering at first since it was something that happened a pretty long time ago, and she had only heard the story once before.

"Jayden." A muffled male voice said to Jayden's right. Both girls looked down the stone steps and say Drayden coming up. The light peach lion had a large haunch of meet in his mouth. He set in down on the step below the sisters. "I noticed you weren't at dinner, so I saved you this."

Jayden's stomach growled, reminding her she hadn't eaten. "Wow, thank you."

"You're lucky you got some!" Zula's voice came from behind Drayden. She bounded nimbly past him, and the girls to stand on the top step. "Give me some." Zula leaned down and sniffed Jayden's gift.

"No, it's mine." Jayden said, playfully shoving her grey friend.

"You had some anyway!" Dayay said.

"Yeah! And I havn't gotten any at all." Jayden added, sticking her tongue out at Zula. Her stomach growled again.

"Well fine, eat up." Zula said.

Jayden bent down and gulped down the hunk of meet in just a couple bits. It sated her hunger enough to stop the aching. She looked at Drayden, "It was great, thanks again."

He smiled and his ice blue eyes lit up. "You're welcome."

"Drayden, what have you been up to?" Dayya asked him. "Do you like the place where me and Jayden grew up?"

"We didn't grown up here. We only lived here for a few months."

"Well shush, you know what I meant."

"Well." Drayden said, "It seems nice here, though I haven't seen much of the place since I got here."

Jayden felt a little bad. Of course Drayden hadn't seen the Pride Lands yet. He knew no one here, so he had no one to show him around. Jayden assumed Larne had been resting this whole time, so she couldn't have done it. Vitani and Tome were taking care of Tempest when they first arrived, then were probably catching up with old friends after that. She assumed Koru was doing the same. All Drayden could do was wait around.

"I could show you if you like." Jayden offered.

"Really? That would be nice." he replied.

"Did you even meet everyone yet?" Dayya asked.

"Um…I don't think so.I met Zula." he nodded to the gray lioness standing next to Jayden. "And Mawalo…"

"That's Malowa!" Dayya said, giggling. "We should call him that, it will totally make him mad."

"Oh yes, I mean Malowa."

"I'll introduce you to more as we go." Jayden said. "Come on." Then she turned to Zula and Dayya. "Are you two coming?"

"I'm not, I'm gonna find mom and dad. See ya!" Dayya headed down the steps.

"I'll come." Zula said.

Before Dayya had gotten to far, she turned her head back and shouted over her shoulder, "Be back before nightfall, I heard there's going to be a spar tonight to celebrate our return!"

"Oh! The Pride Lands hasn't done a spar in a while." Zula said. "Since I was an adolescent."

Drayden, Jayden and Zula headed down the stairs.

"Did you participate?" Jayden asked.

"No, I was afraid."

Jayden and Zula explained briefly to Drayden about the Prideland's spars. He had understood by the name that it was a fight, but didn't know about the etiquette that went along with it. I wasn't a solemn, serious event. It was for fun, full of laughing, taunting. And it was quick. A new match must begin quickly after one ended. A match ended when one fighter was pinned or gives up. These weren't serious battles of course. Claws usually weren't used, or if they were, it was never that much. Only once had a match ended in one lion falling unconscious, and that was the spar between Kivu and Kovu when Kivu was just an adolescent. Kivu had been okay, of course.

Zula and Jayden gave Drayden a brief tour of the Pridelands. They walked out to the waterhole.

"This is the biggest body of water in our lands…" Jayden said. "I mean in the Pridelands." she laughed a little.

"Seems like you came to think of the Pridelands as your home while you were here." Drayden said.

Jayden smiled and nodded. "Maybe a little."

_My heart sure was home here._


	10. Just Friends?

Chapter 10: Just Friends?

Zula, Drayden and Jayden briefly toured the Pride Lands at a leisurely stroll for about an hour. Along the way, Jayden and Zula introduced as many Pridelanders as possible to Drayden. Jayden wasn't sure how well he was doing remembering their names, but he didn't show any sign of confusion as they went on.

Along the way, Jayden re-met Jai and his parents, Jai Senior. And Toni. Jai's mane had grown in too, of course. It was the same size as Kivu's though the tuft of hair on top stuck out more than Kivu's and pointed to one side. His blue eyes were as striking as ever. Toni and Jai Sr. looked well and happy. Jayden had heard from Tempest about Jai's apprehension toward his father when they met for the first time two years ago before the battle with the Black Pride. Things between Jai and Jai Sr. must have been worked out long ago, for when the three approached, Jai was talking excitedly to his father, and when he introduced Jai Sr. he used the words, "my father."

Jayden was glad for them. She didn't know what it would be like to not know her father. Jai met his when he was almost full grown. That _is _something rather hard to accept at first, but it looked like now they were fine.

After a short conversation, Jayden, Zula and Drayden moved on. He was introduced to nearly the whole Pride now. Jayden was surprised, but she never saw the adolescent named Ahila that Mebala and Taeliss mentioned. She asked Zula about her, but the gray lioness shrugged and said,

"She wanders around the lands sometimes."

Jayden wondered about her for a while, then her thoughts drifted to Dark. They hadn't run into him during their walk and Jayden was glad for that. The more she thought about it though, the more she relized she needed to see him in a normal setting so she could become more used to Dark just being a lion in the Pride Lands. A friend. She didn't really want to talk to him, she didn't trust herself to do that yet, but to be around him with other friends nearby would be good practice.

The trio of young adults were heading home now that the sun had begun to fall.

"Have I met everyone now?" Drayden asked his two escorts

"Nearly." Zula said.

"You didn't meet the King and Queen yet, did you?" Jayden asked.

"I did. Before lunch." the lion reported.

"You were napping." Zula told Jayden.

"Oh yes. What did you think of them?"

"Kovu and Kiara were very kind. They welcomed as if I was a long lost cub of theirs…are they like that with all strangers?"

"I don't think so." Jayden said.

"No way." Zula said clearly. "Just before your Pride came, we had a problem with a male stranger. Bigger than you." She gestured with her head at Drayden.

"Is that possible?" Drayden joked, looking at Jayden to see if he made her smile. She did for a flash of a moment. Drayden wasn't a very big lion which made a smile come easily.

Zula went on. "Anyway, he came into the Pride Lands several days in a row. Kovu had to fight him a total of three separate times before the lion finally gave up."

"What did the lion want?" Jayden asked. "Surely he didn't think he could beat Kovu and take over the lands, did he?"

"I heard from someone else he only wanted a few of our lionesses to leave the Pridelands and join him. He was persistent and wouldn't take no for an answer, even when Kovu reported no lionesses wanted to go with him. He had asked them, you see, before the stranger came back the second time. Kovu doesn't force any lion or lioness to stay or go in the Pridelands." Zula told Drayden. He nodded. He had heard this before from Vitani. Kovu had allowed her and her family to leave two years ago, so clearly this was true.

"After that third day," Zula continued, "The stranger never came back."

The trio thought quietly for a short time, then Drayden said, "If he had been charming and helpful, would Kovu have let him enter the Pride to stay if he asked?"

"Um.. I'm not really sure." Zula said after a moment of hesitation.

"I don't think so." Jayden spoke up. "He and Kiara let you in easily because you are with us. Well my mom and her Pride I mean. She's Kovu's sister afterall. Any friend of her's is a friend of his, I'm sure he would say. There are many males in the Pridelands because they are family. Kivu of course. And Clous. Jai and his father. Nundi, Malowa, they've all been born into the Pride or in Jai Senior's case, family of one born into the Pride. None are strangers.

"Dark." Zula said suddenly.

"What?" The brown lioness said, startled. Then she realized.

_Oops. _In her attempt to forget her feelings for him, Jayden had forgotten Dark.

"What about Dark?" Zula said, looking at Jayden. "My brother wasn't born into the Pride."

"Of course," Jayden said, feeling bad, she hurriedly added: "I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything. Dark was a special case. He wasn't born into the Pride, but brought as a cub. I think that makes him pretty close to being born in though." she tried. "He grew up here, I mean. So of course he's not a stranger…"

Zula nodded and Jayden watched her carefully. Had she made her friend mad?

Drayden looked a little confused and Zula caught his expression. She seemed glad to explain how Dark was brought to the Pridelands by his biological mother, a black lioness, and the black cub was adopted by Sanu, Zuna and Zula's mother though at the time, the twins hadn't been born yet.

Jayden relaxed while the gray lioness was telling the story, because her friend was using a light and friendly tone. She wasn't angered. Jayden felt so relieved. The last thing she wanted to do was lose one of her only friends. Zula and her twin sister both were fiercely protective of Dark because he was different and had been treated differently in the past.

As the trio approached Pride Rock, they could see the entire Pride gathering around the clearing in front of the rock. It was almost time for the spar. The lions and lionesses that were present were forming a large circle. In the center was a large space, big enough for two fighters with some extra space for them to roll around, leap or dodge. The fighting would soon begin once everyone was seated.

Kovu and Kiara sat to the far left of the circle, and Simba and Nala were next to them. Kiara's youngest cub, Afia, was resting in her paws. Jayden spotted Kivu, Ciara, Jai, Tali, Mani and even Tempest had made it out, though she was laying down. She was smiling and talking happily to Ciara and Tali. They laughed merrily at something she said. Jayden smiled. It was great to see Tempest out and with some energy. The rest and medicine had done her a world of good. Of course the wounded lioness wouldn't fight this night though. She still needed time to heal.

_At least I hope she realizes she can't fight tonight! _Jayden thought. _I'll be sure of it. _A wicked smile came to her lips as she envisioned herself planting her bottom on her older, yet smaller sister to hold her down.

Drayden had moved away from Zula and Jayden since Koru on the far side of the circle was calling him over. Jayden spotted Tome and Dayya, but before she could walk over to join them, Zula quickly whispered in her ear, "Something going on between you two?"

"Huh? Who?" The brown lioness said, genuinely confused.

"Drayden!" she hissed, her orange-red eyes gleaming with excitement. "He couldn't keep his eyes off you nearly the whole time we were out."

"What? He wasn't looking at me. Only when I was talking. That's just being polite, Zula."

"I'm not so sure." she smirked.

"You're imagining things."

"So there's nothing going on between you two?"

"No."

"Not _boyfriend and girlfriend_ or anything like that?"

"No."

"Has he ever said he likes you?"

"No! Do you live in a fantasy world, Zula?"

"Sometimes." she joked.

"Come on. We're just friends. Some people think we're a couple because our names sound similar. Don't be one of those people. Our names have two different letters, so obviously we're not a match." Jayden teased.

"That's not why I thought-"

"Shush. Come on, let's sit down, your sister and mine are waving their tails at us to come over."

Zula sighed dramatically with frustration, but followed her friend. Jayden walked over to her sister's side and sat down.

She never thought about if Drayden really liked her in the way Zula implied. Jayden never noticed his ice blue eyes trained on her for longer than necessary. Surely Zula was imagining things.

Jayden's eyes wandered to several lions down where Koru and Drayden sat. They talked to each other about the spar. _Are you entering? Who do you hope you fight? I hope it's not Kovu_. Things like that. Suddenly, Drayden began to look at her, but she quickly turned her eyes away.

_What if he did like me? _Jayden thought, and had no answer. _Why can't I like him back?_

Another voice came in her head. _It's too soon._

_Yes…it is._

Her eyes wandered, looking for Dark. He was missing. Oh no, wait. He was laying beside Clous and Sanu on the other side of the circle near the King and Queen. Sanu was speaking to him, but he looked a bit distracted. His blue-gray eyes were looking at his paws, some of his black bangs hung in his eyes. After a few moments, Sanu got up and moved to sit by Tikana a few lions down. Jayden looked away before Dark could feel her gaze as Drayden had.

More Pridelanders had gathered now. Jayden tried to count, but kept messing up because some lionesses excitedly moved around, talking to their friends. Mebala and Taeliss were among the culprits until Zula, beside Jayden, motioned for them to come sit down. Jayden finally counted all the lions, the number came to 31. That didn't include herself, or Ahila, who still hadn't arrived.

_Such a mysterious youth…_Jayden thought. Kovu's loud voice interrupted any further thoughts,

"Welcome! I believe everyone has arrived."

"Wait!" A young voice came from behind Kovu. A lioness came bounding over. No, not a lioness, an adolescent. Mid to late adolescent. She wasn't much smaller than Mebala or Taeliss, but certainly smaller than Jayden herself.

_That must be Ahila._

"Sorry! Sorry, I'm here." she said in a light and airy voice, then dropped quietly in the spot next to Dark. In the glow of the evening, the new comer appeared to be light peach in color. She had long fluffy cheeks like Ciara or Kivu. From this far away, she couldn't see the color of her eyes. Sitting next to Dark, Ahila caused quite a contrast.

"As I was saying, now that we've all _arrived_…" Kovu said, looking Ahila's way on the last word. The Pride chuckled warmly, and the lioness looked embarrassed. "..We may begin our celebration. My sister is back! And with her, her family. Let us all give them a warm welcome while they stay while Tempest regains her health." Kovu smiled at Vitani from across the circle. Some lionesses cheered and Vitani waved her tail a little.

"A feast has been prepared. Prey freshly caught by Ciara,Tikana, Kanai and Nala will be served shortly."

"I helped too, Dad!" the light orange cub, Afia jumped up from her mom's paws.

"Yes of course. My daughter Afia caught prey too, but I don't suppose she's willing to share it." Kovu said with a fond smile.

Afia looked triumphant and shook her head 'no.' Kiara smiled at her daughter with pride and chuckled.

_What could a cub catch? _Jayden thought. _Maybe they're humoring her._

"Before we begin the feast," Kovu went on, "It has come to my understanding there was some sort of announcement." Kovu tossed his head back and forth. It seemed he didn't know who it was that wanted to speak.

"I guess that would be me." Tempest's voice rang out over the circle of lions. She stood, somewhat shakily and Mani moved closer incase she needed to lean on him for support.

"What is it dear?" Kiara said kindly to Tempest. All eyes were on the light peach-gray lioness.

Jayden's heart was thumping. Booming. _She's going to make the big announcement! I can't wait to see everyone's reaction._

Tempest smiled and with a puff of air, moved her bangs from her eyes. "Mani and I are having a cub."

Cheers went out. Mostly from Temepst's friends, Tali, Kivu, Jai and Ciara, even though some of them already knew the news. Others cheered as well. A few lionesses came over to congratulate Tempest. Kiara even went over and nuzzled the lioness.

"This is excellent news!" Kovu's voice rang out. "Especially for Vitani and Tome's Pride. Their princess will soon have a new Prince or Princess!"

More cheers rang out, and Vitani and Tome looked really proud. They nuzzled each other. After the cheers and congratulations, the feast began. Some lionesses drug in the prey the lionesses mentioned earlier had caught. Afia came carrying her own prey, which turned out to be a small field hare. Jayden smirked at the sight.

The feast was great, there was enough food for everyone to eat their fill. After a few minutes of digestion, the scraps were moved. The spar would begin soon. The night had taken over. Some light struck around, but most of it was reflections of the sun on the clouds. Lions were settling and quieting.

Kovu stood, "Who will begin?"

The Pride hesitated for a moment. Jayden knew Kovu liked for the spar to be fast paced, so she hoped someone would volunteer quickly. Kivu flung to his paws and stepped forward. "Who will face me?"

Jayden giggled. This was the silly boyish Kivu she remembered. Kivu _was _more mature now, but she was glad he hadn't lost his fun side.

"I've been waiting for this!" Jai, sitting only a few lions away from Kivu, stood and joined the brown lion in the center. Everyone cheered.

"This is a fine way to start this year's spar!" Kovu announced his acceptance and sat back down by Kiara.

"Go Kivu!" Mani shouted from the side lines.

"Go Jai!" Toni shouted.

"This battle has been long overdue." Kivu said dramatically with a smirk.

"The fight!" Jai said, and leaped at his lifelong friend. They tussled, pawed, bit lightly, pinned and tumbled. Just when Jayden thought maybe Jai had the upper hand, Kivu would turn it around and land many good blows. The moves were quick so it was hard to follow each detail. Yellow mane and brown mane mixed together in a blur as the lions fought. On occasion a roar, or snarl was heard, and only one or two yelps escaped their lips.

Jayden remembered Jai and Kivu had a friendly rivalry between them nearly all their lives. They've always been the same size and height. And of course their mane size, which mattered very much to the boys stayed the same over the years. Jayden wondered if they still fought about it.

On occasion when Kivu and Jai stopped for a brief moment, one gave the other a look with a raised eyebrow and they moved quickly back into battle. The taunting looks made Jayden believe the two still teased each other about their manes. Jayden laughed, it was very fun to watch these two battle. Finally the spar ended when Kivu pinned Jai hard in the dirt. Both were panting heavily.

"I give… for now." Jai announced.

Kivu grinned, and let the peach lion stand.

"Until next year!" Jai said, moving over to where he had been sitting by his family. Lionesses cheered.

"I'm unstoppable!" he taunted.

Jayden saw Toni nuzzle her son quickly. Jai didn't look embarrassed. She saw Nundi who was nearby roll his eyes though. The next match began right away.

Taeliss jumped up and then Sanu. Taeliss was much smaller than the older lioness but she didn't look afraid. Without a word, Taeliss and Sanu jumped at each other, and their spar began. It was gray-brown verses light gray with a flurry of paws, tails and teeth. Jayden noticed both lionesses had two different beautiful shades of blue eyes. That made her think of Dark. Jayden turned to look at him. He was talking quietly with the peach lioness beside him, looking back to watch the spar every few seconds. Jayden felt a quick pain in her chest.

_Why is he talking with Ahila? It's his own mother sparing right now, he should be paying attention. _

Dark's head lowered a little bit and he talked almost right in Ahila's ear. She smiled a small bit and responded quietly. Jayden's fur stood up on end. Her heart pounded.

_What's going on? Why are those two so friendly?_

"Taeliss is doing pretty well, don't you think?" Zula muttered in Jayden's ear. She focused back on the spar, heart still fluttering.

"Oh… yes." she replied. _Taeliss is your new friend, you should support her. _"Go Taeliss!" Jayden shouted.

"Yeah, get her!" Zula added.

Taeliss seemed to gain strength from their cheers, and leaped at the older gray lioness with renewed vigor. Sanu was more experienced though and matched her blow for blow. Jayden's eyes wandered to Dark and Ahila again. They were still chatting. It really pushed her nerves to the limit. She had to hold back any growls, and correct any angered expression that unwillingly came to her face.

The spar was over then, Sany had won. Everyone cheered for her, but many complimented Taeliss for doing so well.

"Good job!" Zula told her friend. Taeliss tiredly smiled and nodded in response as she sat down. Sanu had already returned to her seat.

Dayya, on Jayden's right sprang to her feet. "My turn!" she leaped into the clearing. Dayya was a pretty good figher as she grew into adulthood, and with as much hunting practice she had, she had grown muscular. It helped she had Vitani and Tome's genes in her too.

Tali and Mani's mother, Kanai jumped into the center to face her.

"Show me what you have learned, young one." she said.

"Woo! Go mom!" Mani shouted.

"You'll be impressed." Dayya taunted and their spar began. Jayden tried to pay attention, but again her eyes went to Dark and Ahila. They were still talking. Ahila's eyes met Dark's several times.

_Is she flirting with him?_ she watched them. _Were they smiling? A little… But she's just an adolescent! She has no chance with him. Right? They must be just friends._

Jayden turned back to the spar when lions were giving out cheers. It appeared Dayya was doing well. The pale red lioness gave Kanai a hard strike with her paw into the older lioness's brown shoulder, then used the other paw to strike her in the neck. It must have been a hard hit, because Kanai stepped back and shook her head a bit. But she leaped back into battle after a split-second.

Jayden didn't watch the rest of her sister's spar. She could not stop looking at Dark and Ahila.

_What if they _are_ a couple? _her heart was sinking. _Dark's just a young adult. He _could_ like someone younger. Afterall, Mom is much younger than Dad. _Jayden was starting to feel sick.

Cheers sounded. Dayya had won. Before her sister could return to her seat, Zula smacked Jayden on her arm. "You should spar your sister!"

"What!?" Jayden said. "No…"

"Come on!"

Dayya overheard, and called to her, "Come spar with me, sister!"

"Um, no that's okay." But Zula was pushing her. Jayden hoped someone would speak out and tell Dayya she couldn't spar two in a row, though there was no such rule like that.

"I challenge you in front of the whole Pride!" Dayya announced. The crowd cheered. Jayden knew she couldn't say no now. It was her turn.


	11. Heart Hurt

Chapter 11: Heart Hurt

Jayden rose to her feet and moved to the center to face her sister. Dayya had an eager look in her yellow-green eyes. She readied herself, and tried not to look at Dark. Would he watch their match?

"Go girls!" Vitani shouted from the sidelines to her daughters.

Tempest let out a _whoop_ to cheer them on. Jayden felt embarrassed. There was no way she could beat her sister. Dayya had become more muscular than her over the past few months, and she was a fast runner. The sisters had sparred in the past, and the red-cream lioness almost always won. It wasn't that Jayden was weak or lazy, she just didn't have that same spark or ambition that Dayya got from their mother.

The spar would begin weather she wanted it to or not, so she cleared her thoughts, _I must at least try._

Dayya suddenly leaped at her sister. Jayden tried to dodge, but the red lioness wouldn't allow it. Dayya's paws landed on Jayden's back. The red lioness's fell on Jayden with her full weight. She struggled to be free. She could not be defeated already! The brown lioness tried to shove Dayya off. Her whole weight was holding her though, Jayden's stomach was flat on the ground. The weight suddenly lifted.

_Wha? What happened?_ Jayden flung to her paws. She instantly looked at Dark. He sat in the same spot as when the match began. He was watching her. She shook her head, and looked away. Why had she suspected him to have jumped in?

Dayya interrupted her thoughts, "Come on, try harder! I wasn't going to let you lose that soon. But here's my warning now, sister, I won't let you up again!"

Jayden felt a fury inside her. Dayya had un-done her own pin. It was embarrassing. Jayden hadn't given up, her sister shouldn't have gone easy on her like that. It made her seem weak. Jayden threw herself into battle. She closed the distance between them and unleashed a bite onto Dayya's shoulder along with a hard bat to the head with a paw. Both attacks were a little harder than necessary, but this was her adult sister, after all. She knew her sister's limits more than anyone else in the Pride.

Dayya approved, "That's more like it!" And in turn she pushed Jayden away and attacked back with claws extended. Jayden met her with a loud snarl and open arms.

Jayden pushed her sister on the chest while Dayya's claws met her opponent's shoulder and neck. Typically, claws weren't allowed during the Pride Land's friendly spars, but Kovu usually makes it a rule that lions of similar size and age may use claws if both opponents agreed. Jayden knew her sister would have agreed. She was fierce when she wanted to be.

The brown lioness did her best to block her sister's blows. At times, Dayya would try to bite Jayden's arms or neck, but she nimbly ducked, dodged or simple batted her face to stop her.

In a moment of pause, when Dayya had pushed her away, Jayden accidentally looked at Dark again. He had continued conversing with Ahila. Jayden felt a fury in her chest. Ahila laughed out loud at something Dark said.

_Such a stupid laugh! _Jayden unleashed her anger on Dayya by lunging at her and wrapping her strong arms around her neck and shoulders. She had a great hold and flung Dayya to the side as hard as she could. The red lioness landed hard on her side with a thud. The crowd gasped, and some cheered. Jayden heard Mebala and Zula cheer something from the sidelines, but she didn't understand it.

Dayya moved to her paws not slowly, but not quickly either. The landing had hurt her. Jayden felt a rush of pride. _I can do this!_ Jayden couldn't give her sister any time to recover. She leaped at her again. Dayya met her in the middle this time with a shallow bite to her neck. Jayden clawed at the red lioness's ears with both paws, then with a mighty roar, rammed her arm into Dayya's shoulder, hoping to knock her down again. The red lioness didn't fall, but she side stepped in the direction Jayden had swung because of the force behind the blow. Over the next few minutes, she continued to assault her sister and she could feel Dayya's confidence slipping with each blow and bite Jayden landed. She felt great! Never before had she felt powerful. She never knew she could battle well once she set her mind to it.

_Maybe it's just because of Ahila that I have enough fury to fight well…_ she thought, then made the mistake of looking over at Ahila and Dark again. But no one was there! There was just two empty spaces between Clous and Mairu. _Where did they go?_

Jayden felt a slap to the face.

"Oof!" Jayden saw a few stars. Dayya had hit her hard. She forced herself back into the spar, but now she was distracted. She kept looking around the circle of lions to see if she could find Dark and Ahila, but they were no where to be seen. Jayden received blow after blow.

_Why would they go off together like that? That's so rude! Well it's not exactly a rule that you have to stay to watch the spar…_

Another blow to the neck.

_But why'd they go together?_

Jayden's heart was sinking and her head was hurting, not just because of Dayya's hard blows.

_They're a couple._

Hard blow to the shoulder.

_They must be._

Pinned. Jayden opened her eyes and there was Dayya pinning her down in the dirt. She was breathing hard and had a wild look in her eyes. She had really exerted herself.

Jayden was tired too and let her head fall to the side. _Ahila is Dark's new girlfriend… I knew this would happen._

The crowd of lions and lionesses cheered.

"What a great spar!" someone shouted.

"Those two can really fight." Jayden recognized Zula's voice.

Dayya removed herself from the pin, knowing Jayden wouldn't continue the spar. "You did so well! I thought you had me there for a while."

Jayden forced herself to her paws. "Yeah…"

Dayya clapped Jayden lightly on the shoulder. "I hope I didn't hurt you!"

Jayden hesitated, "No I'm fine." _You__ didn't hurt me,_ she thought.

The sisters returned to the sidelines with more cheers and words of amazement from the Pride. Zula, Drayden, Mebala and Taeliss were all there to congratulate them both, but Jayden hardly heard them.

The spar went on. The heart-hurt lioness made herself focus on the battles instead of dwelling on the fact that Dark and Ahila were a couple. She tried to appear normal, or come off as tired from her spar.

The spar went on until the night was growing late. More lions than just little Afia were tired. (Afia had long ago fallen asleep in Kiara's arms.)

The spar was breaking up. Lions were going their separate ways for the night. Some went into the cave, some went to the sunning rocks. Vitani and Tome went under Pride Rock's peak as they had always liked to do in the past.

Jayden overheard some lionesses talking and her and Dayya's spar had been deemed the most exciting battle of the night. Next was Kivu and Kovu's. Their battle, which was several spars after Jayden's, had been pretty long too. But now that Kivu was in his top physical form, he had the upper hand and was able to tire his old man quickly, then go in for the pin. Jayden had to admit it was a fun spar to watch, it had even distracted her from her feelings for a while. But she couldn't believe the lionesses thought her spar had been better.

"Hey," Zula was calling to her now. "Come on, let's sleep in the den."

Jayden followed her friends, once again feeling so relieved she had Zula. Her light gray friend was really good at making her feel liked and wanted and that was exactly what she needed right now. They found a suitable place to sleep in the den and got comfortable. Jayden's mind was still racing and she knew there was no way she's be able to fall asleep.

"You're a great fighter." Came Zula's whisper.

Jayden was surprised. "Oh, you think so?"

"Yes, if you hadn't lost your concentration near the end you would have won."

"Oh, come on, Dayya's stronger than me." Jayden whispered. "And better than me."

"No way."

"Yes way. You were pretty good yourself." Jayden said. Zula had sparred shortly after Jayden had, with Nundi. They were of similar sizes, but Nundi had beat the older lioness.

"Nah, I sucked."

"No you didn't. Nundi's just fat. He sat on you." Jayden joked. She heard Zula's laugh in the dark.

"That's not it."

"Yes it is! How did you breathe when he did that?"

Zula laughed again. Somewhere from another part of the cave came a loud, "_SHHH!"_

Jayden and Zula ducked their heads and giggled quietly. Then they put their heads on their paws and closed their eyes. Jayden's thoughts were still swimming, but she was in a better mood than before.

_I think I can get through this Dark and Ahila thing if I have a good friend like Zula._

The brown lioness thought about her spar for a while, a little excited she had maybe discovered a new talent in herself. She did believe if she learned to concentrate better, she could be a better fighter.

Her thoughts soon wandered to Dark and Ahila. Where did they go during the spar? Where were they now? Jayden wished she could ask Zula if Dark slept next to her or anyone. She might know, she's his sister after all. But that would arouse suspicion, so she didn't do it. Besides, Zula was breathing deeply now, so she was probably asleep.

_I never really slept well here. _Jayden remembered. _I slept better outside. Under Pride Rock where my mom likes to sleep. _She quietly rose to her paws and made her way to the den exit. Her paws led her not to the underside of the peak, but in the other direction, to the side of Pride Rock. Her paws stopped in the location where a young Jayden and Dark met late at night when their parents slept. She could almost imagine the black cub and the slightly bigger brown cub run through here with smiles on their lips.

The tall grass in the area only came up to Jayden's arms when it used to almost come above her head. And the lioness-shaped rock actually wasn't lioness sized at all. Jayden stood by it in the darkness.

_It's smaller than I remember. More like an adolescent._

Jayden felt calm here though a little bit sad when she remembered the fun times she used to have with Dark. They had played tag in the grass, and scared each other by hiding in it. Sometimes they'd lay in the nearby clearing and watched the stars. She could remember looking at those stars and wishing their time together would never end.

A tear stung her eye. _It has ended though. It ended a long time ago, and I just have to deal with that._

Instead of leaving the place full of memories, she lay down. It felt good here. And maybe this would help her get used to the final "Ended" feeling. She closed her eyes, and soon she went to sleep.

* * *

Jayden was slowly coming awake, but she didn't open her eyes yet. It was dawn. As she came closer to consciousness, she began to wonder what woke her. She could pick up a smell. A familiar scent. Did that wake her? What scent could wake her? It was soft like rain and grass. It felt nearby and all around her. She breathed deeply with eyes still closed.

_It's Dark's scent_. She suddenly realized. It had to be him. Was he standing over her right now? What was he doing? Watching her sleep? But wouldn't that mean he had some sort of feelings for her?

_What doI do? Do I pretend to be asleep? Or do I confront him? _Her heart pounded.

The scent didn't go away. She was glad. _Maybe he just wants to stay and talk? Okay I'm opening my eyes…._

Jayden opened them, but saw no one. She quickly looked around, but no one was there. Then her heart hurt again when the source of the scent became clear. It started to pour rain.


	12. The Gorge Walk

Chapter 12: Gorge Walk

The first thing Jayden did after she stood and shook herself awake was go check on Tempest. She figured it might take her mind off Dark.

_Of course Dark wasn't standing over me watching me sleep, hah, what was I thinking…?_

The dark brown lioness trotted around Pride Rock to the front side. She didn't mind the rain pelting her back. She was pretty sure Tempest had insisted on sleeping outside with Vitani and Tome last night. Jayden found her family in the same place they used to reside when they lived here two years ago. The Vitani Family really liked to sleep in shade of Pride Rock's peak and supporting beam. Jayden remembered from cub hood that it had felt safe and a bit cool when the night wind blew through.

Tempest was still laying there with her eyes closed. Over her stood Mani and Tome. Jayden hurried over, alarmed at first, but then calmed when she saw the lions' relaxed posture and expressions. Tempest was merely sleeping or resting.

"Hey." she whispered when she approached. "How is she?"

"Very tired." Tome reported. "But sticking it out."

"The trip really exhausted her. I don't know how she stayed awake during the spar last night." Mani said, then rose his eyes to Jayden's. "Good job, by the way."

"Oh, thanks." Jayden replied, then looked at her sleeping sister. She looked small. "She should have rested last night."

"I tried telling her, but you know how she is." his glance returned to his mate.

"Yes, she's so stubborn."

"Uncontrollably."

"I don't think she's _able_ to show weakness."

"The stubbornness just takes over."

Tempest eye's opened but Mani and Jayden didn't see.

"It like manifests into its own entity." Mani continued, whispering.

"Maybe we should call her 'Stubborn-est'."

"I can hear every word you're saying!" the pale peach-gray lioness growled without moving.

"Oh!" Mani and Jayden said, looking a bit guilty, but giggled. Tome threw back his head and laughed loudly.

"Would you all just _go away! _And let me sleep!"

The three felt reassured of Tempest's health, and moved away from her. As the three were about to go their separate ways, Jayden muttered to Mani, "I got a better name for her. 'Temper.'" Mani laughed, then went to find Jai and Kivu. Tome went to find Vitani or maybe Simba who he had surely reunited with and reopened their odd friendship that began two years ago. Jayden wondered what she should do when the golden-brown almost-lioness Mebala approached.

"Hey!"

"Morning," Jayden greeted.

"Nice day isn't it?" Mebala said, implying the cloudy sky and light rain.

"It feels nice. I like being in it."

"Good, cuz there's going to be a gorge walk today. Soon actually. You in?"

"Uh.. A what?"

"A walk in the gorge. A gorge walk. You never walked in the gorge when you lived here?"

"No, I was just a cub. And there was sort of a war going on."

"Oh. Duh. Well come with me. We're supposed to meet in the gorge in just a few minutes." Mebala set off toward the gorge, and Jayden followed.

"Who's 'we'?" She asked.

"I'm not sure who all is coming, but it's supposed to be you and me, Taeliss, Zuna and Zula, Clous, maybe Ahila and Dark, and I think Dayya said she was."

_Ahila and Dark. _Jayden thought. It sounded like their names were put together like that on more than one occasion. She hated to admit it but the names did sound good together. Like Zuna and Zula, Or Jayden and Dayya. Tempest and Mani, Ciara and Kivu.

"There might be more if we're lucky." Mebala continued.

Jayden swallowed hard. "The more the merrier, I guess."

"You get the idea!"

A short time later, Mebala and Jayden had descended into the gorge by the least steepest entrance far Northwest into the Pride Lands. They didn't realize it, but it was the same place where the corrupted Scar placed his cub nephew, Simba, to set up Mufasa's murder many years ago.

Waiting in the gorge was Zula, Clous and Taeliss.

"This is it?" Mebala said. "Where is everyone else?"

"Zuna got recruited for hunting duty." Zula reported. Clous nodded his red maned head.

Taeliss spoke up, "Dayya said she was coming but we've been waiting for a while, and she's still not here. Maybe she got caught in the hunting party too."

"Ahila? Dark?" the brown adolescent inquired. The three others shrugged.

"I guess not coming." Zula estimated.

"Well fine."

"We can still go." Jayden said, not sure if she was grateful or disappointed or bothered that Dark wasn't coming. Was he not coming because he was with Ahila?

_I've got to stop thinking about them. They can be together, it's not my business. I'm supposed to be getting over him anyway._

"Yeah, come on." Clous said.

All the young lions began their stroll The rain still fell, but much softer now.

Zula moved to Jayden's side. "I was the one who was actually called in to go on hunting duty." she said to her friend. "But Kiara got Zuna and me confused, and gestured at her to go with them. She just shrugged and went along."

Jayden giggled. "Do you really thing that's what happened? She really can't tell you apart?"

"No way."

"It's easy to me." Jayden said.

"Thank you. Not many can tell us apart, actually." Zula said, making a point to turn and glare playfully at Clous behind them.

"Me? Oh come on, you know I can tell you two apart."

"You just like to pretend you don't know." Taeliss imputed, "So you can flirt with both girls and not get in trouble."

Clous only laughed, but neither denied or accepted this statement.

"Hey, wait up!" came a young voice echoing behind them. The five young lions turned around and saw the adolescent Ahila, and Dark coming toward them.

"Sorry we're late." Ahila called, still far away. Dark followed her carefully over the fallen rocks.

This was the first time Jayden saw Ahila in the light and up close. She did have peach fur, like she suspected, with a light brown tail tuft. Her cheeks were fluffy. Her ears seemed kind of big for her face, and so were her eyes. They were light blue-teal-gray. Like Dark's but with more green in them. Her nose was rounded and very dark pink-purple. Jayden thought it looked odd on her, and had to force herself not to stare.

"What took you?" Mebala asked.

"Who cares, let's just keep going." Taeliss said, and impatiently moved forward. Eveyone followed. Ahila and Dark said a quick hellow to them all. Jayden even found her voice and said, "hello." Then quickly positioned herself between Zula and Taeliss. She wasn't sure if she could stand beside Dark and act normal. Fortunately a good and distracting question popped into Jayden's head.

"So Zula, out of you and your sister, which of you are the better hunter?" she asked with a smile.

"Oh Kings, no!" Clous moaned with dramatically rolling his eyes.

"You don't know what you just re-opened." Mebala muttered.

"Oh come on, don't act like we fight about it _that_ much!" Zula said, then to Jayden, "Zuna often disagrees with me but I really am the better hunter."

"It's a really good thing she's not here right now." Dark commented about his other sister.

"Is this like an on-going argument or something?" Jayden asked, amused.

"It's not an argument," Zula said. "Zuna just gets confused. I mean, I _am _faster and stronger."

"Yeah, you're heavier, so it's easier to keep prey from struggling and getting away." Clous teased.

"_Excuse_ me?" Zula said, turning toward him again. Jayden, Taeliss and Mebala laughed. Clous only grinned at her, and Zula moved back to stand by him so she could swat him rather hard on the arm.

"Hey!" he protested.

"I am _not_ heavier!"

"Okay, okay!"

"I'm really not."

"Okay, I know!"

She swatted him again. Jayden giggled, then realized she was now standing next to Dark. Ahila was on his other side. Their eyes met briefly. Jayden let out a nervous laugh that she tried to cover up with a cough.

"Quite the sisters you have there." was all Jayden could think to say. _I'm so lame._

He smiled though, and said, "Yep, I wouldn't trade 'em for anything in the world."

Zula and Clous continued bickering in the background. Jayden tried to keep talking like any normal friend might.

"So by your evaluation, which of your sisters is the better hunter?"

"I don't know, they're both very good. I've seen strength in both of them. Zula has speed, but Zuna has silence. I've seen her sneak right up to a prey animal and take it down. It had no idea it was being stalked until she had it in her teeth."

"Wow." Ahila commented from Dark's other side. Her teal-grey eyes shining. "I hope I can be that good when I start to hunt."

Taeliss spoke up from Jayden's other side. "Me too! Me and Mebala's hunting tests should be coming up soon, right?" The peach-gray lioness turned her head to her brown friend. Mebala nodded.

"That's right."

"Are you nervous?" Jayden asked both girls.

"Kind of." Taeliss replied.

"Not me!" Said Mebala.

"How was your hunting test, Jayden?" Dark asked. She turned her head back toward him, surprised.

"Oh.. Um well I guess I didn't have a test exactly. My mother just told me to join the hunt one day and that was that. I guess we don't do the go-by-yourself-test thing."

"It must be a Pridelander thing." Clous spoke from behind them. He and Zula had finished their bickering and were just walking side by side.

"You weird Pridelanders." Jayden joked, glancing back at her cousin, Clous. He laughed.

_I wish I had grown up here._ Jayden almost said outloud.

"We just have different traditions." Mebala said.

"Yeah I know." Jayden said. "I like them."

"The Pridelanders rock!" Ahila cheered, "I'm so glad I'm a part of this Pride now."

Everyone nodded in agreement, feeling thankful. Jayden wanted to ask Ahila how she came about to the Pride Lands, but she went on.

"It's so peaceful here, I can't imagine what it was like during the war." she remarked. "It must have been so scary."

At first no one replied to this, then Jayden realized it was because all of them were just cubs when the war happened, except for Mebala and Taeliss (and of course Ahila herself) who hadn't even been born yet. Only Jayden and Dark had seen bits and pieces of the fighting when they had snuck out into a bush by the border where the fight took place.

"We were protected from the war, so we didn't see much of it." Zula said finally.

Jayden didn't know weather to talk about what she and Dark had seen or not. She glanced at him and his eyes were hidden by the black mane around his face. She chose not to speak.

"I've heard stories," Ahila continued, "From some of the older lionesses. They say it was brutal."

_It wasn't just brutal_. Jayden wanted to say. _It was demented. _She thought of the Black Pride's "leader" Blood when he struck Dark's biological mother. She fell to the ground and didn't get up.

Still,no one spoke, and Ahila blurted, "All those black lions were just evil, I'm just glad they're wiped out."

Practically the whole group flinched. All made quick glances to Dark. His eyes were still guarded.

Against all her restraints, Jayden muttered with a tint of anger in her voice, "Not all black lions are evil."

"Oh!" Ahila realized. "Oh, Kings, yes of course not. I'm sorry Dark, you know I didn't mean you." The adolescent amended, putting her tail on Dark's back. "All but Dark were evil." she said.

"Actually there was another." Jayden couldn't help herself. "Dark's mother. She was brave. She gave Dark up so he could live a normal life without evil lions deciding his future. She was punished severally everyday, and ultimately sacrificed her life. She would have done it all over again the same way if she got the chance-I know it. So, no. not all black lions are evil."

Everyone was silent as death.

"Oh…" Ahila said. "I was told that part of the story but… um.. I guess I forgot. I'm sorry." she said, finally becoming quiet.

There was a long silence again.

_Maybe I shouldn't have spoke. _Jayden thought. _Why can't I shut my mouth!? Should I apologize? No… I did nothing wrong._

"I'm sorry, Dark." Ahila squeaked quietly.

"That's okay." he spoke up. Then turned his head to the adolescent. "Really, it's alright." and even smiled. Jayden got the feeling he was just saying it to not cause animosity between them.

Something dawned on her. Surely if Dark and Ahila were dating, she would have known the story better, and she wouldn't have said something so obviously insensitive. Could it be that the two weren't even a couple? Just friends?

Her heart kind of fluttered. A small flame of hope jumped inside her, but she extinguished it quickly. She wasn't supposed to have hope. Hope just leaded to pain.

The silence in the group didn't last long. Dark himself made a joke when Mebala tripped noisily on a large rock, "Is this your first day outside?" he teased, "Those hard things are rocks. You walk over them."

The group burst out laughing.

"Very funny…" Mebala said, blushing a little. After that, things loosened up again. The topics swam from one subject to another. The young lions grew tired not long after that, but instead of continuing to go forward through the too-long gorge, the seven lions turned around and went back the way they came. The rain had stopped, but the sky was still cloudy. Random raindrops still fell every now and then. The group returned to Pride Rock just past lunch time. Most everyone had already eaten, but the hunting team had done well enough to get enough for everyone, so there was plenty left over. The seven lions ate hungrily with a few others who were still munching. Jayden managed to tear off a large hunk of meat from the carcass and moved away to give herself some space. She wasn't used to being around so many lions yet. It was hard to transition going from a pride of eight to a pride of thirty-three.

Jayden noticed an open grassy area where only Kivu and Ciara were currently resting. They were quietly grooming themselves and sometimes each other. She went to the same grassy area, but gave the couple some space. She ate her lunch quietly. Looking around, she could see lions resting and washing, some were finishing up eating too. She could see some lionesses including her mother, laying on the stone-steps that lead to Pride Rock's cave. Vitani was talking with Kanai and Kiara. Mairu walked over and lay with them and joined the conversation. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but Jayden could tell it was just light and happy talk. Vitani was popular here. Jayden had always wondered why Vitani was so adamant on leaving here two years ago. Why couldn't they have lived here? She had always heard Vitani never slept well in the den.

_Neither do I. _She interrupted her own thoughts. _But she sleeps fine outside, so what other reason was there to leave? Our home is beautiful…maybe mother wanted to get away. There are bad memories here for her. Her mother and brother died just outside of the Pride Lands._

Jayden was just finishing her chunk of meat when she heard pawsteps approaching. Clous, Zuna and Zula had come to join her. Zula sat next to Jayden, while Clous and Zuna sat side-by-side; they were very close to each other like Kivu and Ciara were. Jayden glanced at th e royal couple again, they were still grooming happily.

"So it was a good catch, right guys?" Zuna asked, grinning.

Jayden turned her head back to her group. "Yes!" she nodded.

"Good job." Zula commented with a smile. Jayden noticed another difference in the twins. Zuna's voice was softer and a bit high, while Zula's was rougher or a bit deeper.

_Just like their fur. Zuna's is smooth, Zula's is rough._

Jayden took this opportunity to look the twins in their eyes. As cubs they used to announce one of them had "red-orange" eyes, and the other had "orange red" eyes. Jayden could barely see the difference, but it was true, Zula's eyes were more red.

The four chatted quietly at first. They told Zuna about their morning gorge walk. She said she was sorry to have missed it. The twins then laughed about Kiara's mistake when she had at first asked Zula to join the hunt, but gestured at Zuna when it was time to go.

Crickets were chirping and lulling Jayden into a sleepy state. She put her head on her paws and closed her eyes. She listened to Clous and Zuna talk for a bit. She could tell just by listening that they really loved each other. They were a good couple. Zula was being quiet. She opened her eyes and saw that Zula had put her head down too, and had her eyes closed. A spare rain drop must have fallen on her cheek, because there was a tiny drop of water there. Jayden herself had felt one land on her back just a minute before.

Jayden's eyes drifted to Kivu and Ciara again. They had their heads down too but were playing some sort of game with their paws. Kivu would put one of his on Ciara's then she would put her other paw on his. He repeated by putting his other paw on top, then she repeated. After their paws were a sandwich of four paws, with Kivu's on top, Ciara pulled hers from the bottom and put it on his at the top of the pile.

She continued to watch as Kivu strained to pull his from the bottom. This time Ciara was exerting pressure from the top to make it more difficult for him. Jayden figured the object of the game was to keep the other from pulling their paw out. Ciara kept giggling and smiling. Kivu grinned widely too.

_They look so happy. _Jayden closed her eyes again and listened to the quiet giggling. _The Prideland's cutest couple. Possibly even cuter than Mani and Tempest. _Jayden thought about Tempest for a while, wondering about her condition. She must be doing fine, since Mairu the medicine lioness had been talking casually to Vitani and Kiara.

Soon Jayden drifted off to sleep.

The rest of the day remained uneventful. Jayden only napped for a short time. The rest of the afternoon, she hung out with Dayya, Koru, Drayden, Mebala, Taeliss and Zula. Nearby, she could see Ahila, Clous, Dark, Malowa and Nundi gathered around a tree. Nundi was trying to climb it whil eAhila was cheering him on.

The dreary day turned into a dark night. This time, Jayden invited Zula to sleep by her and her family under Pride Rock's peak where her family liked to reside. Vitani and Tome seemed happy to share their favorite spot. Koru wasn't there at the time, so there was more space than expected. Jayden wondered if he went wandering away from the lands like he sometimes did back home. She often wondered if he would eventually leave the pride to be a wanderer. It was up to him, he could do what he wanted as an adult.

Everyone was settling to sleep. After lying awake for about an hour, Jayden was still awake.

_Not again…_ she thought.

She could hear Zula's deep breathing. Even her den-loving friend fell asleep here. Why couldn't she? Jayden felt restless. Her feet planted on the Earth on their own, and pulled Jayden along. She walked in the night to the side of Pride Rock where she used to sneak out when she was a cub. The same place she slept last night.

She was almost next to the standing rock when she noticed a black shape resting in the grass in front of her.

There was no mistaking who it could be.


	13. Cute

**Updating again sooner than usual because I got a new keyboard that I love and makes it so much easier to type.**

* * *

Chapter 13: Cute

"Oh!" Jayden had to quickly stop herself. Dark's eyes came open and looked straight at her's. Jayden was so embarrassed.

"I'm sorry." she said. _He's here? Why? _"I didn't mean to wake you, I'm sorry." she repeated.

"It's okay, I wasn't asleep." his creamy voice replied.

"Oh good. Pardon me then." she quickly turned away hoping he didn't realize she was just going back the way she came.

"Wait." he said. Jayden halted, her heart thumping. "Just a second." he stood.

She turned to face him. "Yeah?"

"Well I just wanted to say thank you for earlier. I mean, what you said in the gorge about my biological mother." His eye slooked like sad blue clouds. A little like the sky earlier in the day.

"Oh yes, of course."

He was quiet for a moment and Jayden felt the urge to fill the silence. "I don't think she meant to be insensitive."

"Yeah, Ahila sometimes blurts things and they come out in ways she doesn't mean." he chuckled. "It's happened more than once."

"Oh. I see." Jayden smiled. "Despite that, she seems like a good friend."

_WHY did I say that? _She shrieked in her mind.

"Yes she is."

_So they are just friends? Ugh I must stop this._

"So how long has she lived here?" she asked, even though she knew the answer from when Zula told her the first day she was here.

"About a year. She fits right in." he smiled lightly.

Jayden giggled nervously because of his cute smile, not because of the comment.

"I'm glad you're back, Jayden." Dark said suddenly. Jayden's smile dropped. Her heart pretty much stopped.

_He's glad I'm back? What does that mean? Is that just something one friend says to another? Well… sure it is. In fact, every night I've been here, I've reflected on how glad I am to have Zula as my friend. If she went away for two years and came back, I'd say the same thing to her._

"Well we're only back for a short time." She blurted, not know what else to say. "We're heading home again after Tempest's cub is old enough to travel. I guess that's as old as I was when I first came to the Pride Lands as a cub. Hm!" she smiled.

"Oh yes. Dayya told me."

"Of course. Well I'm going to head to bed…"

"I will as well."

Jayden turned to leave, she headed toward the underside of Pride Rock where she was supposed to be sleeping. "See you later then." She waved her tail at him as a friend might do. He repeated the phrase, and headed toward the stone steps to enter the den. Once she was out of his sight range, she practically bolted to her bed for the night.

_KINGS! _she thought _What was all that about? _Her heart continued to race as she settled back in her spot next to Zula. She could hear Tome snoring now. Dayya was in one of her classic upside down poses.

With her eyes closed, her thoughts raced. _I'm so stupid! He must think I'm crazy. I act like a crazy person around him._

_Why do I get so flustered around him. Ugh I should have said I was glad I was back too! I was so rude just replying with a report on when I will be leaving again. I need to focus on only thinking of him as a friend. Try not to be so awkward. _She put her paws over her eyes in embarrassment. _So stupid! Ugh just go to sleep. _She told herself. It took several more rounds of '_Why did I say that!?' 'I'm so awkward!' for her to finally calm down and drift off to sleep._

A couple days passed. Jayden spent the days with Zula and her other new friends, or spent time with her family. Tempest was doing much better. Mairu and Tali cleaned her wound and added more medicine daily. The wound looked less inflamed, though it was still red and open. Jayden asked if she thought Tempest's unborn cub was now out of any danger, and Mairu maintained she didn't know. They'd just have to wait and see.

During this time, Jayden saw Dark little. She was getting better at not leaping every time he walked by or spoke. She was still a little awkward when speaking to him, but she told herself to give it time. On the third day since that accidental nighttime meeting with Dark, Jayden was asked to join the hunt. This was her first time hunting with lions other than the ones in her Pride. She was nervous. Kiara was leading and the rest of the group contained Ciara, Toni, Sanai, Vitani and Jayden herself. Hunting with her mother back home used to be hard. Vitani was critical when Jayden was beginning to would halt the young Jayden in the m iddle of the hunt to correct her posture or something else. Jayden used to hate hunting because of it and didn't help that Dayya was better at her, even back when they were first learning. So Vitani would smile and congratulate her while Jayden got scowls and corrections.

One time after Jayden had missed an easy kill during a training session, Vitani even muttered under her breath, 'Why can't you be like your sister.' Jayden didn't think Vitani meant for her to hear it, but she did. She never blamed her though, she assumed her mother had said it out of frustration and to herself, and didn't really mean it.

It still made hunting with her difficult at first. Now as the adult brown lioness stepped out onto the yellow grassy plains with the rest of the hunting group around her, she felt fine. A little nervous, but nothing like when she was first starting.

Jayden's nerves went away the longer the hunt lasted. It was going well. Vitani was doing her part to follow Kiara's directions, and so was everybody else. Here, Jayden and her mother were equals. It almost made her laugh to think about it.

Kiara was an excellent leader, she noticed. And Ciara was a great huntress. When she and Kivu became King and Queen, she would be promoted to lead huntress too. She would be a good one, no doubt. While watching Ciara during the hunt, again she was stuck by her grown-up Royal-ness. It was the only way she could think to describe it. Jayden really admired the older lioness for her beauty and poise. She wondered if she could ever be like her.

Jayden told herself to stop getting distracted and concentrate on the hunt. No wonder she wasn't the best at hunting, she got distracted so easily. Jayden spent the rest of the hunt very focused. She played a small part just as the "Chase Lioness" -one of the ones who jus trun after the prey to scare it into another lioness's path. Soon they caught two zebra. Together, they dragged their prizes home. Jayden felt good inside.

After they ate, a large group of the young lions in the Pride was gathering around the waterhole, so Jayden decided to join them. She was relieved to see Zula there already, and sat next to her. Kivu with his little sister, Afia in his paws, Tali, Ciara, Jai, Mani were there. Even Tempest made it out. Jayden remembered this group would often hang out here together back in the day. Nundi joined them too eventually.

_Good. Here's my chance to learn more about Ciara and Jai's younger sibling._ Jayden thought.

Nundi, the light orange adolscent walked to his siblings and sat down next to Jai.

"Hey bro." Jai greeted. Nundi only nodded his head. His golden orange mane flopped over one eye.

_Nundi certainly is the quietest of the three._ Jayden noticed each had very pretty manes. Ciara's bright red, Jai's yellow and Nundi's orange.

Zula noticed this as well, "It's hard to look at all three of them in the daylight like this." she joked and pretended to shade her eyes from the siblings. Nundi rolled his eyes but Ciara and Jai laughed.

"Jai is hard to look at to begin with." Mani said.

"Hey!"

Tempest laughed.

Zula whispered in Jayden's ear, "So which brother is cuter?"

"Um…" Jayden didn't know. They both looked fine… but cute? Maybe. "Nundi I think." Jayden whispered back. Zula giggled and reminded her of Mebala and Taeliss.

"What are you girls whispering about?" Nundi said with a snap in his voice.

"Oh nothing." Jayden said, feeling playful.

"You already got Jayden lying for you, Zula?" he said. The others laughed.

"Ow, Afia, that hurt." Kivu said suddenly. All eyes turned to him and the little orange cub in his paws. She was wrestling and biting his fingers. "Stop that." Kivu chided.

"But I'm _bored!_" she protested. "Why do I have to stay with you?"

"Because I'm babysitting you."

"I want to go off on my own."

"No."

"_Pleeeease?!" _she begged with big golden yellow eyes.

"No, I said!" Kivu said, covering the cub with his paw.

"Oof!" she squeaked.

Jayden smiled. Despite being a little spunky and rude sometimes, Afia was really cute.

"I'm just so bored with you!" the cub said after fighting her way from under Kivu's big paw. She hopped in front of Ciara's arms. "Ciara is more fun. You'll let me go off on my own right? Not too far, just a little?"

Ciara smiled at her. "I don't think so, dear."

Afia whined. "It sucks not having another cub in the Pride to play with!"

"There will be one soon." Tali said, looking at Tempest. Tempest smiled.

"That's _forever_ from now!" Afia said, throwing herself into Ciara's arms. "Why don't _you have_ a cub?" She looked up into Ciara's green eyes.

Ciara looked surprised at the question.

"Yes, why _don't_ you have a cub, Ciara and Kivu?" Tali said teasingly, leaning in bringing a paw up under her chin.

Ciara and Kivu chuckled. Kivu a bit nervously.

"Yeah!" Jai added.

"Yeah, Kivu!" Mani said.

"Well it's just not time yet. Soon though." he said, and put his paw on Ciara's. She locked eyes with him and smiled.

"Whatever!" Afia said, defeated and jumped out of Ciara's paws. "I'm going to play 'Over-Under' now."

"Oh no." Zula said and Nundi groaned.

Afia moved herself to the end of the line of lions, by Tempest.

"What is she doing?" Jayden asked Zula.

"It's a game she made up. She goes over and under us as we lay here, then she turns around and starts over. She tries to go faster and faster each time."

Jayden tried to hide a smile. It sounded adorable, though she could see why it illicited a 'oh no' and a groan.

"Here I go!" The light orange cub announced.

"Just be careful with Tempest's back, Afia." Mani warned gently. "You don't want to step in her wound."

"Ew…kay…" the cub replied. "I'll start with under then." she said, and went under one of Tempest's arms. "Under." Afia muttered to herself. Tempest smiled and allowed the cub to slide under her arm. As she hoped out, she came to Mani. She went to his stomach, "_Over!" _she exclaimed, and tried to hop over him, but Mani was rather large, so she had to scramble up his side, flailing her back legs. She hopped off him some-what nimbly. Next was Nundi, who was in a sitting position, so she went under his tail. Nundi allowed this with a blank look. Then she went over Jai's back with less trouble than she had with Mani.

Next was Ciara, then Kivu, then Zula, then Jayden. Afia decided just to leap over Jayden's outstretched arms. She landed with a smile, turned and posed triumphantly.

"There!" She proclaimed. Jayden wanted to hug her. "Now again, but faster!" she told herself, then starting with Jayden, repeated her performance.

"So is this what she calls fun?" Tempest asked. Afia didn't hear the remark, or chose to ignore it. She was trying her best to go faster over and under the adults.

"She doesn't have other cubs to play with so this is the best way to expend her energy." Kivu explained.

"We just put up with it." Ciara added.

Tempest laughed. "It's cute."

"Not so cute when it goes on and on." Nundi muttered. Afia had reached him again, this time going under him, between his front legs and belly. He had to adjust his position for her to get through. Jayden noticed despite his complaints, he didn't move away like he very well could have. _Maybe he has a soft spot after all. _Jayden thought.

A few minutes later, Kiara strolled over with Simba at her side.

"Playing 'Over-under' I see." Kiara said as she stopped by Tempest.

"Oh no." Simba muttered. Jayden wanted to laugh.

"_Please_let me go over-under you, mom and Grandpa Simba!" Afia cried, forgetting her game and flinging herself at Kiara's paws. Then stood and flung herself at Simba's paws, burring her head between them. Simba smiled but shook his head.

"No, Silly, your mom and I are going for a walk."

"Ughhh!" Afia whined.

"Now come on." Kiara said, reaching down and grabbing the cub's neck scruff gently. She put Afia back on her paws and let go. "I'll be coming back to pick you up soon. Stay with Kivu for now."

"Aw…" she pouted.

"Tell you what, Afia," Simba bent down and was saying in her ear, "If I find a grub while we're walking, I'll save it for you."

She lit up. "Really?"

"Daddy!" Kiara protested.

Jayden grimaced, but didn't say anything. Did Afia eat bugs?

Simba just grinned. The Quwwn and her father began walking off.

"Just because you ate bugs in the wild when you were young doesn't mean you can encourage my daughter's bad habit!" she scolded him.

For the millionth time that day Jayden wanted to laugh. Afia was quickly back to her game. _Such a strange family, but I love this._

A little later, Drayden and Dayya joined the group. Afia was glad she had two more playmates/victims for her game. Dayya got excited and tried to join in the game. Dayya could go over easily, but under was quite annoying for most everyone. Nundi finally gave in and left for home.

"Dayya can be the cub friend Afia's never had." Kivu said.

The group hung out for the rest of the afternoon. Near night-time, Kiara came by and picked up her cub. By then, the orange cub was exhausted and glad to be going home.

At nightfall, the group went home. Jayden followed Zula inside the cave to sleep. She was tired too. Zula settled next to her sister Zuna, who was next to Sanu. Jayden was glad Dark didn't often sleep by his family. For the first time since coming to the Pride Lands, Jayden went to sleep quickly.

A murmuring woke Jayden a few hours later. Only after opening her eyes did she realize the sound had come from her. Her legs felt restless. She needed to move. She stretched her legs while still laying. She glanced at Zula who was still curled up, asleep. The rest of the cave was too dark to see much else. She heard gentle breathing. Sounds of sleep.

She looked at the mouth of the cave. A glowing blue-ish light was beaming inside. Suddenly Jayden was on her paws and was walking outside. She moved quietly down the stairs and she took an immediate left. Her paws brought her to the one place she had been avoiding the past couple nights.


	14. Heart Race

Chapter 14: Heart Race

She tried not to think about the last time she was here and awkwardly bumped into Dark. This place just calmed her. She told herself she'd only be there for a moment. She sat in the cool grass, and when she turned her head, she could make out the shape of the standing lion-like rock in the moonlight.

Memories started to flood her of when she and Dark as cubs would play-fight each other in this exact spot. Always laughing, smiling. Then they'd fall to their backs and stare at the sky. Jayden remembered thinking as she stared into the starry sky with Dark one night that she would never wish on a star, because she already had everything she wanted.

_I should have wished things would have stayed the same…_ Jayden thought, lowering her head. The memories were just sad now. _I know I'm supposed to forget Dark, but it's hard to do when I'm here. I can't stop thinking about our good memories and the rest of the relationship we never got to finish._

She looked up at the sky and as if on queue, a shooting star flew across the dark black field. Jayden almost gasped. Now was her chance.

"I wish…"

Suddenly the sound of heavy paws approached. Jayden closed her lips and instinctively ducked low in the grass.

_Stupid! _She told herself. _You're too big to hide in the grass! Is it Dark? Why is he coming here?_

The figure got closer. She could tell it was a large male. Her heart raced faster with each step the male took. But he must not have seen the hiding lioness, because he walked on away from her. As he walked away, Jayden could make out who the lion was.

"Koru?" She whispered. "Where is he going?" Jayden watched her brother quietly stride away. _Maybe he's meeting a lioness._

Koru had the same habit back home. On occasion she'd see the lioness he was sneaking off with, but not always. She never tried to follow him. He was an adult; he could do what he pleased. Jayden used to wonder a lot if Koru would one day leave the pride and start a pride or family on his own. After all this time, however, he had never shown more interest in one lioness in particular. Would he find real love someday?

Jayden spent a few minutes in the grass wondering what it would be like for Koru to have a real girlfriend and to have cubs with her. She pictured the cute cubs they would have. She hoped he'd find someone soon.

_Maybe I should try to set Zula up with him? Koru's handsome in his own way, I suppose. She would like him. If they hit it off, he could stay here when mom and the rest of the pride are ready to head home. Or maybe they'd run off together and begin their own pride like mom and dad did. How romantic would that be? _Jayden sighed out loud.

"Who's there?" Came a voice.

Jayden ducked her head quickly. _Who now?_ Her heart raced all over again. She could barely make out a figure in the distance. They had heard Jayden's quiet sigh. The figure didn't need to come closer for Jayden to know who it was. This time it really _was_ Dark.

_Oh no, what do I do? _The brown lioness almost started to sneak away, but she stopped herself. _No. I'm not running this time. _She bravely stood.

"Hey Dark. It's me. Jayden."

"Jayden?" he seemed surprised. "Hey."

As he walked over to her, she said, "So um.. You couldn't sleep either, I'm guessing?" He sat in front of her, but with some space between them.

"Kind of. I just like coming here at night. It calms me."

_Him too? _Jayden's heart skipped a beat.

"And It's a nice night too." Dark said. And when the lioness didn't reply, he glanced up at the sky. "The stars are pretty tonight."

"Yes they are. I just saw a shooting star a minute ago." She said. "You missed it."

"No way. I've never seen one."

"Never?"

"Nope."

"Well if I see one while I'm out here, I'll make sure to shout so you can look." she joked, feeling herself relax a little. She forgot how easy it was to talk to Dark once she calmed down a bit.

"Deal." he said.

After a short moment of silence, Jayden said, "So Tempest is doing better, have you heard?"

"Oh yes. I heard from Dayya."

_Of course_. She thought. She had sort of been avoiding Dark for the past few days, but Dayya sure hadn't.

"Seems like you guys got here just in time." Dark added.

"Yeah! It's such a relief." Jayden said, really meaning it. It had been a heavy weight on her shoulders wondering if Tempest would take a turn for the worse. Everything noww was on an uphill slope for Tempest. Her wound would soon begin to close and she'd be perfectly fine.

"I can't imagine what it'd be like to fear you might lose a sibling." he said, appearing to reflect on the idea.

"Well you've already been through enough, I don't think you should have to try to imagine more sadness." she said lightly with a sad smile.

"Hey, that's right!" he said.

_He has been through a lot. The way he lost his biological mother like that… and discovering the Black Pride lion was his biological father. At least _I_ know his story and don't blurt out insensitive things out like Ahila. _Jayden wanted to grin at the thought that she knew Dark better than the adolescent that hung around him. _I doubt they are a couple. _She felt happy at the thought.

"Have you played 'over, under' lately?" he asked.

Jayden laughed. "No! Though I supposed I'll expect it if I ever have to babysit Afia. So I'm guessing you got a sample of that hyper cub's game?"

"Yes, unfortunately. More than a sample. She likes to go over my mane. She claims it's soft." Jayden looked at his mane and saw it shine slightly blue in the moonlight. _I bet it is._ She wanted to say, but didn't.

_This is nice. Just talking. We haven't talked this much since we were cubs._

"Tomorrow my mom and I are taking a run by the waterhole. And my sisters are coming too. Would you like to join us? My mom often insists we keep up at least a little exercise. It makes me think of Vitani's training before the war, remember?"

"Of course. They'd come back every day looking beat!" she giggled. "If I go with you, we won't be coming back beat, will we?" she joked.

"Oh, no. It's just a run. Then walk. My mom isn't a master trainer like yours is."

"She's certainly kept _my_ family trained. Just think of what it'd be like if we had stayed here, my mom would have continued the training, probably!"

"That might not have been a bad thing." he smiled lightly.

Jayden chucked, "Maybe not!"

"So you're coming tomorrow? You can invite Dayya. And Drayden if you want."

"Well yeah, sure!" she smiled.

The two talked a while longer in the night about one topic or another. It was comfortable and fun. Soon, Jayden became tired and headed to bed. She didn't know if Dark was going to stay out or go to bed too; he didn't say and she didn't ask. She just left with a "see you tomorrow."

When Jayden laid in bed, she fell asleep instantly.

The next morning, Jayden got up and noticed Zula, Zuna and Sanu were already gone. She had to find Dayya and Drayden to join Dark and his family on their run. At first, Jayden had wondered why Dark suggested Drayden could come, but then she was glad. The more that came, the more friendly and at ease she would be. This morning, she had lost the confidence she felt last night while talking to Dark. This morning, she was nervous. _What if I blurt something stupid?_

As Jayden left the cave, she felt the warm sub beat on her back. Tempest and Tome were laying in the large area outside the cave's mouth. He was applying some of Mairu's orange medicine on her back. She lay with a smile on her face.

_Tempest is doing great._ Jayden reflected happily. As she trotted down the stone stairs, she passed Ciara and Kivu who were coming up.

"Excuse us!" Ciara said as she stepped around the brown lioness.

"There's no excuse for us!" Kivu joked.

"I have one." Ciara replied seriously. They continued up.

Jayden grinned. _Those two are hilarious. And happy._

She headed down and almost bumped right into Drayden.

"Woah." he said, backing up a little bit."

"Oh! I'm sorry. I wasn't really looking where I was going."

"That's okay."

"I was looking for you anyway."

"You were?"

"Yeah, we were invited to take a run with Dark and his family." she smiled politely. "I just need to find Dayy and we can be off."

"Cool. I was meaning to find a reason to get to know Dark more. I've got a chance to talk to almost everyone but him."

"Oh good. Come on." she said and led the way to the underside of Pride Rock where she expected Dayya to be. As she walked, she asked Drayden, "So who's your favorite Pride Lander?"

"Favorite? Um… Nundi!" They laughed. "Just kidding, Nundi's alright, he's just kind of blunt. Not exactly mean, but not very friendly."

"I got that impression as well."

"He doesn't seem to be like his siblings at all. And his parents are very nice."

"Wow you have been busy meeting everyone."

"Yep. I love this big pride. I started in a big pride."

"I remember." she said with a sad smile, thinking back on Drayden's sad story.

They had arrived under Pride Rock. Koru was sleeping there, but Dayya was no where to be found. Jayden thought about waking her older brother, but she figured he must be tired since he was up so late wandering outside the Pride Lands, so she let him sleep.

"I think I saw Dayya heading toward the large rocks the Pride Landers sun themselves on." Drayden reported.

"Oh alright." they headed that way. "They are comfortable, have you laid on them yet?" Jayden commented.

"Not yet."

"That will be on the to-do list for you before we go home!" she said, feeling playful. Maybe she was a little excited to spend time with Dark today. _That is okay… right? _she asked herself.

"I have a list? Awesome." the brown maned lion joked. "What else is on my list?"

"Hmm… You have to learn Pride Land's history."

"The Pride Lands have a history?"

She looked at him. "Well of course! Everyone has a history."

"Well I've heard from a few lionesses something about a war. Some mention a few that died. Omaru was one… and Jamay. And Timi?"

"Tima." Jayden corrected. "She died before the war began actually. She was mauled by the black lioness… and passed away a few days after that. It was terrible."

Drayden made a sympathetic sound. "Sounds terrible."

"Well there's more to the Pride Land history than that. I even know the history before I was born." she boasted.

"Oh, really! You'll just have to tell me all about it."

"Sure." she said. They had almost made it to the sunning rocks. Jayden quickened her pace.

"You sure are talkative today." Drayden commented. "It's not usual for you. I like it. You must be excited about this outing."

"I am." she said happily. Drayden smiled at her, but she didn't catch it.

She hurried to the rocks. Sure enough, Dayya was sunning herself on them. Beside her, Kiara with Afia, Toni and Kanai were resting too. Jayden told her red-colored sister about their walk with Dark and his family and she jumped up with excitement. The three adults now headed toward the waterhole.

"It's so nice being back in the Pride Lands, isn't it?" Dayya said to Jayden. She nodded in reply.

They trotted on, and soon saw four figures walking in front of them. Three rather skinny and lanky ones, and one large one. It was Dark, Sanu, Zuna and Zula heading toward the waterhole. Dayya and Jayden called out and the three caught up to them.

Zula smiled in greeting to Jayden, "Glad you could join us!"

"Thanks for inviting us." Drayden, who was on Jayden's other side said.

"No problem." Dark said. He was positioned on Zula's other side. Next to him was Sanu, then Zuna. "The more the merrier."

"Well now we look like a hunting party." Zuna said.

"Hush, or they'll expect us to catch something." Sanu said. Her kids snickered.

Jayden smiled. She looked around at the sky and scenery. It was such a nice sunny day. A bird's song in a tree nearby seemed to punctuate her thought.

Soon, the group of seven made it to the waterhole. "Ready everyone?" Sanu rasped.

"Ready…?" Jayden murmured, wondering what she meant.

Dark leaned over to make eye contact with Jayden. "Did I mention this was a race?" he said.

"We're racing?" Dayya shouted, "Cool!"

"Enough talk," Sanu announced. "GO!"


	15. Open your Heart

Chapter 15: Open Your Heart

The race began. Jayden hadn't been prepared, but she tried to dash off to keep up with everyone. Sanu and Dark were in front. It was clear they did this race often. She wish she had been warned. She ran along-side Drayden for a while, but then she started to pull ahead of him. Maybe she was a better runner than she thought! She caught up to Zula who was laughing delightfully. Ahead of them was Dayya. Jayden watched her sister's light red back with a dark red colored spine move up and down. She tried to catch up with her, but Dayya was fast and pulled farther ahead. Jayden was beginning to lose speed, then noticed Dark nearby, slowing as well. Dayya zoomed ahead with Sanu.

Some space had appeared between the lions behind Jayden and Dark, and in front of them. They locked eyes once, then took on determined expressions, and pumped their legs harder. Without saying it, the two had begun racing each other. They were consistently neck and neck until Jayden bravely bumped her shoulder into his to try to slow him or knock him off balance.

"Hey!" he said, but he wasn't slowed. He lightly nudged her back, and she laughed as she ran. She nudged him slightly harder, and this time he almost tripped. He quickly regained his footing. "No fair!" Dark exclaimed with a smile.

"It was no fair you didn't warn me about the race!" Jayden managed to shout. She was really losing steam now.

_But I can't stop now, this is so fun! _Jayden thought. Dark gave a return-nudge with his large black shoulder. This time Jayden tripped. It happened so fast: Jayden gasped loudly, her paw hit a large rock and went backward. She landed full force on her chest and cheek. Her momentum forced her back end to fall over her front. She landed with an _oomph!_ flat on her back. Dirt was flying through the air around her. She lay stunned for a moment. She was aware of hard paws racing toward her. Jayden rose to her paws and shook her head.

"Jayden!" It was Drayden from behind. He had seen her rising up from the ground. "Are you okay? Did you trip?"

"Uh… Kind of." she replied.

At this time, Zuna and Zula came running up from behind too. "Are you okay?" they said in unison.

"I'm fine." Jayden replied, then grit her teeth with a hiss, she pulled her right paw off from the ground.

"Your paw! What's wrong?"

"I hit a rock." she muttered.

Now Dark was approaching. "Oh no, did I nudge you too hard? I'm sorry." he said, looking worried.

"You did this?" Drayden said, his ice blue eyes glaring at the black lion. "She's hurt."

"It's fine, Drayden, I'm fine. I nudged him first, I started it." Jayden said, testing her paw on the ground. It hurt less the more she did it.

Drayden scowled, but didn't say anything else.

"It's not broken?" Zula asked.

"No, see? It moves fine." she demonstrated.

"That's a releif." Dark said. "I'm still sorry. I think I nudged you harder than I meant to."

"It's okay, don't be sorry." she looked at him.

"Well I am."

"Can you walk?" Drayden interjected. Jayden tried and found she could walk easily. It barely hurt at all.

"Looks like I can." she smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "Let's keep going."

"We can go at a walk." Dark suggested. "Mom and Dayya will notice we aren't with them eventually."

"One of them will be the big winner." Zuna added.

"You all can keep racing." Jayden tried to tell her friends. "I'm sorry I held everyone back."

"It's okay," Zula replied, "I was really struggling anyway. I was going to stop soon."

"Me too." Dark agreed.

Jayden realized everyone, herself included, was breathing hard, so she stopped feeling bad. They was quite a race though.

_What fun!_

They walked on, and Jayden's friends talked around her. Jayden noticed Drayden wasn't talking though, and when she looked at him, he wore a frown.

"What's wrong?" she asked him.

He seemed like he wasn't going to answer at first, but only after a couple seconds, he said, "I thought you were really hurt. I was worried."

"I'm okay, don't worry."

"Alright, I'm glad." he said, though he didn't seem very convinced. Jayden suspected he had more to say but was holding it back.

The stroll around the waterhole went on. Dayya had won the first race, and insisted they do another one since most of the group had stopped when Jayden fell. Jayden felt well enough to try again. Her paw did keep her form running very far, so she slowed to a walk during the rest of their race. She didn't mind. She knew she wasn't the best runner, so she didn't think she'd win anyway.

Eventually the group headed home. Each lion got a great work out. On the way back, Dark padded to Jayden's side. "Sorry again about your paw. I feel really bad."

"Come on," she replied, "I'm fine. It'll be 100% better in a couple hours, I'm sure."

"It was my fault."

"No it wasn't." she tried to say firmly.

"Don't feel bad, Darky!" Dayya interrupted, literally jumping into the conversation. She pushed herself between Jayden and the black lion. "Jayden is pretty clumsy!"

"That said from the mouth of the clumsy sister?" Zula whispered from Jayden's other side. Jayden knew Dayya was teasing, so she didn't take offense.

"Jayden's got the brains," Dayya went on, "But I win at everything physical."

"That is actually true." Jayden said. The lions around her laughed. Jayden looked behind her at Drayden who was not laughing. He still looked bothered.

Her suspicions prooved to be true when they were nearby at Pride Rock and Drayden said to her, "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure." she replied and halted. She locked eyes with Zula before they walked away. Zula gave her friend a suggestive wiggled-eyebrow look. Jayden rolled her eyes at her.

When they were alone, Drayden cleared his throat.

"What's up?" Jayden said, feeling awkward.

"That guy, Dark, he tripped you on purpose?" he went right to the point.

"No! …Well yes. But not really." she stammered.

"That doesn't make sense."

"Well I mean, I pushed him first. Just for fun. I was trying to slow him down. We were racing."

"So he pushed you back to make you almost break your paw?" his tone was a little hard.

"No! It was an accident. He shoved me on the shoulder a little too hard. I know he didn't mean to. Like I said, it was an accident. We were racing. Dark and I used to be friends when I loved here before. We're just really familiar with each other."

_That's not exactly true… _Jayden thought, _we're basically strangers again._

"Oh." was Drayden's reply. "I guess what I'm trying to say it… well I care about you, Jayden. I don't want you to get hurt."

Jayden's heart raced. _Cares about me? Doesn't want me to get hurt? Is he saying physically or emotionally? He must mean my paw… how could he know how I used to feel about Dark? I'm certain he means my paw._

"I'm fine." she said with conviction, hoping that would end his doubts. "Really."

"Well alright." he sighed.

"Thanks for caring about me though." Jayden smiled, like she would to a friend. Drayden only nodded and the two headed back to Pride Rock.

Zula jumped her as soon as she was alone. "WHAT DID HE SAY!?"

"Woah!" she took a step back. "You almost ran into me."

"Sorry. Come on, tell me what he wanted to talk to you about." she said as she walked beside her older friend. Theyw ere headed up the stone steps that led to the cave.

"Nothing."

"Please, Jay! We're friends. Don't say 'nothing'."

"Ugh! Fine! He asked if Dark hurt me on purpose."

"What! Why would he say that?"

"Well he didn't say it, he just implied it." The girls were in the cave now and went to the back where they could be alone. Jayden really wanted to sit down. Her paw did sting a little.

They sat down, "I explained we were just messing around, I was trying to slow Dark down so I could beat him." Jayden blushed when she remembered the happy feeling she got when she was running beside Dark, both of them smiling and laughing.

"And he said…?" Zula prompted.

"Then he said something weird… he said he cared about me."

"Woah."

"What?"

"He cares about you?"

"I guess."

"Are you two dating?"

"No! You know that." Jayden said, becoming embarrassed.

"Well it could have happened and you hadn't told me yet. Wait, did he ask you to be his girlfriend?"

"NO! Zula!" Jayden said, exasperated. She was glad they were alone in the back of the cave.

"Did he say anything else?"

Jayden hesitated. She didn't want to tell the gray lioness the _"I don't want you to get hurt"_ part because then she'll have to share her small worry that Drayden might have been hinting that Dark could or would hurt her emotionally. She hadn't even sorted out what he had really meant to herself. And telling Zula would just complicate things. Not to mention that would mean she'd have to explain how she used to be in love with Dark, and she did _not_ want to go there.

_I'm supposed to be thinking of Dark as only a friend, not reminiscing on how we used to be._

"He only continued to say he was worried I was hurt." Jayden said, which wasn't a lie.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"I thanked him for his concern. That's all."

"He was totally trying to tell you."

"Tell me…?"

"That he likes you. Mayne even _loves_ you!"

"No way." Jayden said, rolling her eyes again.

"Come on. He said he cared about you. What words did he use exactly?"

Jayden thought for a second, then quoted, "'What I'm trying to say is: I care about you."

"Oh Kings!" Zula said, looking excited. "That was totally a confession!"

"No it wasn't."

"Yes it was!"

Jayden sighed and moved from a sitting position to a laying position, putting her head on her paws. This conversation was making her tired.

"If you had responded appropriately, you two would be dating right now."

"What if I don't _want_ to date him?" Jayden muttered.

"Why don't you?"

"I don't know. I just don't like him that way."

"Why not? He's totally cute." Zula said, laying down beside her. "You could like him if you just opened your heart to him. He's kind and funny."

"You date him then." Jayden joked.

"I wish I could!" she grinned.

Jayden decided she'd try to change the subject to Zula's love life. Zula did seem interested in talking about that sort of thing.

"You could either date Drayden or Nundi." she said with a smile.

"No!" she giggled, "Not Nundi!"

"What's wrong with him? He's not much younger than you."

"I don't care about that. He's just…kinda quiet and anti social. If I tried to hit on him, it'd be like trying to hit on this floor."

That made Jayden laugh.

"In fact, I might as well try to hit on the floor, if you'll just excuse us for a few minutes?" she joked.

The brown lioness was cracking up. "You have to share the floor with me right now, I'm about to fall asleep on it."

"Oh fine."

The conversation lulled from there, much to Jayden's relief. The two took a cat nap. Before falling asleep, Jayden thought about what Drayden said, and decided there was no way Drayden could have known Jayden's feelings. Besides, Jayden wasn't gonna let her heart get broken by Dark or anyone ever gain, so there was no way she would be hurt emotionally. Drayden was just concerned about her paw.

And with those calming thoughts passing her mind, she fell asleep.

* * *

Someone nudged Jayden awake later.

"Wake up." It was Ciara.

Jayden stood quickly, stiffling a yawn.

"Will you join the hunting team?" Ciara asked. "We're going on an evening hunt. On eof the other lionesses requested it."

"Oh sure, sounds fun!" Jayden said.

Zula was waking up now too. "Could I come?"

"Sure, let's go."

Ciara headed toward the exit and Zula and Jayden followed. They met Tikana and Toni at the base of Pride Rock, and the five of them headed out into the awaiting evening. Koru passed the group, heading home. Jayden remembered he had went out late last night.

As they stalked into position out in the grasslands, Jayden's paw started to sting again. She had forgotten it was sore, and wondered if she should back out of the hunt, but the group was already approaching a herd.

_Too late now. I better not screw this up. _she thought.

Jayden did fine on the hunt despite her apprehensiveness. Ciara was a really good lead huntress. She lead and ordered them well. The team caught two large herd animals and brought them home.

Jayden ate up while the rest of the Pride joined in. Night had fallen heavily. When she finished, she headed back to the cave to continue resting. Her paw hadn't gotten worse during the hunt, but it still felt sore.

She was about to climb the stone steps when she saw the large figure of a Black lion heading toward the side of Pride Rock where the two of them had met last night.

She paused. _Does he go there each night?"_ Something strange stirred in her, and she felt her paws moving forward, toward him, and her mouth was opening "Hey Dark!"

He turned around to look at her.

She trotted to his side. "Need some help looking out for a shooting star again tonight?"


	16. Problem

Chapter 16: Problem

Dark smiled at Jayden. "Yeah! I need all the help I can get."

The two of them strolled along, heading toward the tall rock on the side of Pride Rock. Jayden wasn't sure what had come over her. It felt like the words just blurted out of her mouth. _'Need some help looking out for a shooting star again tonight?' Ugh what was I thinking? _Of course she wanted to spend time with Dark, but inside she knew she shouldn't. They were supposed to be just friends now, and spending time alone with him might (_okay, WILL)_ stir old feelings in her.

_Friends spend time together._ Jayden tried to defend herself. _Zula and I spend time together a lot. It's just being friendly, that's all. I can spend time with Dark and not fall back in love with him._

"Did you have a nice hunt?" Dark asked.

"Yeah. Ciara led us well. She said Kiara lets her lead often since she will one day be lead huntress when she and Kivu take the throne."

"I wonder when that's supposed to happen."

"I dunno. I get confused on the Pride Land's tradition about title changes. IT hasn't been exactly consistent over the years. It changes by death, or by battle, but then Simba gave Kiara the throne pretty early. And now Ciara and Kivu are preparing to take it when Kivu's parent's aren't that old. I suppose they don't have to pass the title if they don't want to yet."

"You analyze things a lot." Dark observed in an amused tone.

_You have no idea…_ she thought.

Jayden and dark sat in the grassy area at Pride Rock's side. Crickets were chirping in the night. Jayden liked that sound. There was a gentle calming breeze that ruffled her fur a little. It pulled Dark's black mane. The two of them listened to the night sounds for a few minutes.

"This is why I come here. It's so peaceful." Dark murmured, settling into a comfortable position.

"You come here a lot?"

"Yeah. Almost every night."

_Does he ever think about how we used to be? As cubs…so in love? I wish I could ask him. _She almost laughed out loud because of the thought. _Yeah right, like I'd ever do that. What would he say? What if he said he does think about it? Or maybe he has put those memories away, like I tried to._

"You look like you're thinking about something important." Dark prompted.

"Oh." she hadn't realized he had been studying her. "I was just remembering something." she thought fast, "Remember that day you saved Clous from that big rock that fell on his legs?" she turned to him, glad to have thought of a safe topic.

"Oh yeah, of course. It freaked me out."

"I'm sure it did. It must have been scary to see Clous disappear under that huge rock."

"Well yes, that too, but I meant I freaked myself out with my actions. When I moved that rock, I used some strength inside me that I didn't know I had." he explained. "I remember looking down at my arms and legs and seeing muscle there. And then I heard you say 'Wow'". He said with a small smile, and looked at her.

Jayden tried hard not to blush. She had forgotten about that part. That was the day she really began to like him. Seeing his strength, calmness and modesty while being praised had made her heart flutter that day. Then that same night was the first time they met under the stars secretly.

Maybe this wasn't a safe topic after all…Fortunately, Dark continued the conversation in a different direction.

"I learned at the Battle with the Black Pride where that strength came from." he lowered his head. "From my heritage…" Jayden's heart hurt for him. She couldn't imagine how he felt when he learned the Black Pride's male leader was his biological father.

"No Dark," she looked him in the eye. "You may have gotten genes from that lion, which gave you muscles, but you had the strength in your heart, too, that pushed you to help Clous. You only get that from you."

He hesitated, then smiled. "I suppose so, thanks."

"No problem. You should have known that." she said lightly.

"I think I dwell on that too much…The black lion. The things he did. _They_ did." he got quiet.

"You shouldn't dwell on it." she said.

"I know. It's hard not to sometimes. Cuz then I think: would I have eneded up like them? If I had been raised there?"

"No." she replied instantly. "No way. You would have still been the kind and thoughtful lion you always have been."

"You think so?"

"I know it. It would have been a hard life, they would have tried to make you like them…but-"

"She saved me." Dark said.

"Yes, she did." There was a silence for a while.

"She was good too, you know. Your mother_._" Jayden said. "Not like _him_."

Dark smiled with sad eyes. "Thank you."

Jayden felt warm inside. There were a few nights, back when they were cubs, when she had to comfort him about his origins. She was glad the right words seemed to come to her when sensitive topics came up.

_It's easy to talk to him._

"You were always good at making me feel better." Dark said in a lighter tone.

"I'm glad."

The conversation changed from there to lighter topics. They talked about their friends, Jayden asked if Malowa was still a "mamma's boy." To her delight, Dark nodded.

"It's sort of adorable." she commented. Dark just chuckled. "I was never _that_ close to my mother." she said. They talked about that for a while. Vitani was a bit of a stern mother, and to Jayden it seemed like she favored her other daughters more than her.

"Why do you think that?" Dark asked. By this time, Jayden had settled into a laying position like Dark.

"I can just tell by her tone, and she praises them more."

"Are you sure you're not just imagining it?"

"I don't think I am. I try not to care, I don't want to seem selfish. I know she loves me and all, just like every mother loves their cubs. She raised me well, and I have a lot to thank her for."

"Maybe withholding praise is her way of motivating you." Dark suggested.

"Probably."

"Well, you grew up to be just fine, great even."

"Aw thanks, I try." she laughed.

The two talked comfortably for a while longer. Sometimes they took on silence just to watch the stars.

_This is just like when we were cubs._ She thought._ I love this. Just friends, but still close. Close friends. Yeah I can deal with that! I can just do it this way until it's time to go home. When Tempest's cub is old enough._

Soon, Jayden was feeling tired and wanted to head to bed. The two said good night and went their separate ways. Jayden felt good about herself and her easy conversation with Dark.

The next day was rather boring. Some heavy clouds had rolled in, making the air humid and making it darker outside. While strolling near Pride Rock, Jayden ran into Clous and walked with him for a while.

"Tempest seems to be doing better." he said.

"Yeah, she's great. She's still not 100%, but Mairu and Tali have been taking great care of her. I hear they have to change her leaf bandages less often since the infection has gone down."

"That's good. Did I hear correctly that you named her cub?"

"Yep."

"Cool! I didn't know you were a good namer."

"Well it was my first time coming up with a name for someone's cub. Hm!" she giggled. "Are you trying to ask me to name your future cub?" she teased the orange lion.

"Uh… heh heh." he stammered, looking embarrassed.

"You _have_ thought about cubs before, haven't you?" she asked her cousin.

"No. Kind of. Not really. Yes… well I just don't know if Zuna wants them. With me I mean. Or at all. We've been dating for a while, but not like as long as Mani and Tempest or Ciara and Kivu."

"I see. So you might wait a while?"

"Y-yeah, probably."

"Aw, Clous, you're blushing!"

"I am not!"

"Whatever you say, macho man."

As they walked, something caught her eye on their right. Under a tree lay Dark, Malowa, and Ahila. Jayden watched as Dayya joined them, going over to Dark and talking to him animatedly and happily. He nodded and smiled at her. She nuzzled him. Jayden heard her squeal from where they walked. Jayden had an odd feeling in her chest.

"Do you still…" Clous said, noticing where her eyes were trained. She whipped her head around to face Clous, and tried to calm her heart, remembering what he knew about her feelings toward Dark when she was a cub.

"Oh, um… Well we're just friends now." she replied vaguely.

He seemed to understand, and nodded.

_I still care about him, but I'm forcing myself to only think of him as a friend. It's working fine so far._ she thought.

_Is it? _her very inner voice asked. She had no reply.

Later in the day, Jayden joined Dayya and Malowa who had stayed by the tree Jayden and spotted them by earlier. Dark and Ahila were no where to be seen. Jayden wondered again what was up with those two. They didn't really seem to be a couple, but they spent time together alone sometimes. She couldn't figure them out.

Dayya was excited and talked a lot about Dark to Jayden. "Dark is the cutest." she said. "He's the most handsome lion in the Pride. Sorry Malowa." she turned to him.

The dark cream lion shrugged. "I don't care." he said.

"Oh good." she went on. "Hey, you remember when we were cubs and Dark was practically a baby, and we would play games with him like tag?" she asked Jay den. She giggled. "And he couldn't run very well yet, so he'd fall a lot."

Jayden nodded.

"She embarrassed Dark by bringing this up earlier." Malowa reported.

Jayden smirked. "Oh no."

"He was _not_ embarrassed! Well maybe. I just thought it was cute since he's such a big lion now. There's no sign of that little guy who could barely walk or talk!"

"Gag me!" Malowa said, pretending to clog his ears with his paws.

"Why are you here if you aren't enjoying the conversation?" Dayya turned on Malowa.

"Good point. See ya." The dark cream lion stood, and left.

"Good." Dayya said after he was gone. "Sometimes he can be a chatterbox, you know?"

_Him?_ Jayden thought, but didn't say.

"Anyway, how have you been? You doing okay with dealing?"

"Dealing? With what?" Jayden was confused.

"Sarafina's death? In the cave? Remember what I told you about not hiding your feelings?"

"Oh yes, of course. I'm dealing fine. You helped me a lot." Jayden played along.

_She did actually._

The sisters talked about Tempest after that. How the cub was due soon, maybe 2 weeks or more from now. Both were excited to become aunts.

Nightfall came and Jayden started to think about Dark. Her heart involuntarily began to beat faster. She tried to calm it. She decided to only briefly visit Dark at his usual spot before she headed to bed.

When every lion was getting settled for the evening, Jayden set her paws toward the side of Pride Rock. As she expected, Dark was there. She quickly approached him.

"Have a good evening!" she said. "It's a nice one out tonight."

"Sure is." he agreed. "Good night."

Jayden smiled and was about to walk away, but Dark said suddenly, "Oh, I thought I saw a shooting star a while ago."

"What? You did?"

"Well it wasn't one. It was something black flying in the sky." he laughed.

"Something black? A crow?" she was intrigued.

"No, it didn't have feathers."

"Oh, a bat then." she said, sitting in front of him.

"A bat? What is that?"

Jayden stared. "You've never seen a bat?"

"No."

"Come on! They're little rats with wings."

"You're making that up." Dark said.

"No I'm not!" Jayden laughed. "They have furry little bodies with soft looking wings. They eat bugs and fruit."

"You must have bats in the… Vitani lands, wherever you come from." Dark joked.

She swatted his shoulder playfully. "They're here too, obviously!"

He chuckled while she smiled. Suddenly she halted her smile. _That's the first time we've touched in two years… well besides when he tripped me during the race._

She wasn't sure why that bit of information came to mind, but she quickly tossed it aside.

"How do you know so much, Jayden?" he asked.

"Oh, I dunno, I just thought I knew as much as everyone else. Or less."

"No way, you're full of information. And even as a cub you were observant."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, of course."

Jayden felt warm in her chest. _Be careful…_ her inner voice said. _Oh be quiet._ she told herself. _Just let me be happy for a moment._

The brown lioness stayed out with Dark for a while after that. She hadn't meant to, but the two got to talking about other things. Jayden happily forgot the time, and talked or listened until she got tired.

The next night, without thinking Jayden went to Dark's usual spot again. He was always there at night. Jayden told herself she was just visiting him as a friend, or she used one excuse or another. But her heart was beating fast that night, and a blush came to her face more than once when he would smile or laugh. She was grateful it was dark out so he wouldn't see it.

The next night, Jayden let herself go even more. It was very late this particular night. Jayden was happy and in a playful mood while in the usual spot with Dark. They had been laying in the grass when Jayden swatted Dark's tail.

"Hey!" he said.

Jayden giggled and swatted it again.

"Jayden would you check if Afia is here, I feel her playing with my tail. Certainly only a cub could be that childish."

"Hey! I'm older than you, remember." she retorted.

"Not by much."

"Yes, by much."

"A month at most."

"No!" she stood up, glaring at him. "It's five months, thank you."

"That's not right."

"Yes it is!" she insisted.

He stuck his tongue out at her, and she roughly pushed him in the shoulder with both her front paws, smiling.

"You starting something?" he rose to his paws.

"Maybe I am." She waved her tail in the air. He growled lightly at her and she giggled. She felt so carefree and playful. Without thinking about it she launched herself at him. She tackled him with a hard force, and he stumbled a few steps. He was pretty bulky but she had managed to move him.

"Now you've done it!" he returned fire and grabbed Jayden around the neck and shoulder with both arms and flung her to the ground. She landed with a thud and a laugh, but she recovered quickly. She jumped up and roughly tousled the mane on the top of Dark's head. She immediately bolted away and he chased her.

"Why, you!"

Dark caught up to Jayden and pounced on her, tackling her to the ground. Jayden fell with a thump again, and tried to turn around to face Dark to bat at him with her paws. She hit his shoulder and mane. He held her shoulders down to get her to stop.

"I got you now!" he said triumphantly, his grey-blue eyes shining. Both lions were breathing hard. Jayden tried to struggle stubbornly, but he held her tight.

"You're not going anywhere." he said, almost gently, and Jayden stopped. That's when it suddenly stopped being a game. She felt herself blush when the attraction she'd felt for Dark come at her full force. He was so handsome and had a cute smile, she couldn't resist noticing. His mane hung close to her face. He smelled good. It felt like her heart was about to break out of her chest. She panicked.

"Oh, ow," she cried. "My paw." she broke eye contact with him and pulled her paw away from the ground, toward her face. He loosened up his grip. "I think I might have re-injured it." she lied.

Dark let her out of the pin at these words. "Are you okay?"

She stood, but didn't put weight on the paw. "Yeah, it just hurts a little. Not anything like before, when I first hurt it. Well it's not like it hurt that much to begin with, heh. I think I was just too rough when I swatted you, I'm sorry." she rambled.

"No, don't be sorry. I forgot your paw got hurt a couple days ago. I'm the one that's sorry." he said.

She "tested" the paw on the ground. "No, it's okay, really." she pretended to pull it back in paid, and hissed.

"It seems bad…" Dark looked worried.

"It's gonna be okay. I'll get some rest tonight, and see Mairu in the morning." she smiled at him.

"Okay, that sounds like a good idea." Dark said. Jayden stood, making sure not to put weight on the paw that felt just fine.

"Well, goodnight." she said.

"Sleep well." he said, giving her a very warm smile. She couldn't help but smile back, and then headed toward the front of Pride Rock, making sure to limp a little. When she was out of Dark's sight, her pace quickened, and her limp disappeared. She hurried inside the den where Zula, Mebala and Taeliss were sleeping, and quickly plopped herself down in her nest of soft grasses. She put her head down and put both paws over her eyes.

Her inner voice spoke up again. _We have a problem._


	17. Realization

Chapter 17: Realization

Jayden didn't sleep the entire night. She didn't expect to.

_We have a problem._

_I know… oh Kings, I love Dark!_

The realization had hit her like a ton of bricks and made her cheeks feel hot. Somewhere deep inside, she knew she still loved Dark, but she had forced herself to believe she had let that feeling fade at least for the most part. She forced herself to think of him only as a friend, but clearly that hadn't worked.

The rest of the night, Jayden tossed and turned, a million things going over in her mind. Zula even woke because of Jayden's restlessness at one point and asked if she was okay. Jayden whispered she was fine and tried to move less from then on. Everytime she closed her eyes in the dark, she saw his pretty blue eyes and his smile.

_Kings, I love him so much. I never stopped. I was so stupid to believe I could forget him._

She put her paws over her head, wishing she could just wish her love away. Loving Dark only made things complicated and would only lead to more heart break.

As the night wore on, she considered a new possibility.

_Could he still… I mean even a little.. Just like me? He did smile at me a lot tonight. And laughed and wrestled with me like we did when we were cubs._ She sighed and smiled. _It was just like old times when I was so happy. It was wonderful. Maybe… if he does like me… maybe we could go back to how we were. We could be a couple again. Only real this time, we're grown up!_

Her heart was soaring, flying. She felt happier than she had in a long time. The good feeling didn't last long though when her heart quickly crashed.

_But that can never be… There's Dayya. She still seems to like Dark. Maybe even love him. I don't know for sure but she's till a problem. And we're still leaving for home when Torrent is born and able to travel. No… even if it did turn out that he liked me, we couldn't be a couple for such a short time. My heart can't handle that._

_Besides… who says he really still has feelings for me? Sure he smiled at me, but he smiles at everyone. He's polite. He even smiled a lot at Ahila_. Her eyes popped open, and narrowed. _Ahila… she's also in my way. Does sh elike him and he likes her back? Or is it one sided? Or am I making this all up in my head? Agh! I'm not allowed to love him anyway, it doesn't matter if he and Ahila end up as a couple._

She wanted to scream. This back-and-forth in her head was making her crazy. She wished she could fall asleep. Going outdoors would help her sleep, but she knew she wasn't going outside until morning for fear of meeting Dark again by accident. She just had to wait for sleep or dawn.

_What am I going to do? I love Dark, I can't avoid that anymore and as long as I'm here in the Pride Lands, I'll continue to love him. And maybe even after I leave here. Oh Kings, I don't want to be heart broken forever, living half a life, always wanting Dark…_

_Do I avoid him from now on? Or do I tell him? No! No way. That's the last thing I do. What if I just act normal… and keep this feeling in me? And just enjoy it while I can._

It was the most sane thought she had all night. Her thoughts still raced after that, but soon the racing slowed. Then the thoughts became fuzzy. Then didn't make sense. Then just as the sun began rising over the horizon, the in-love lioness fell asleep.

* * *

There was a paw prodding her side. Jayden almost didn't open her eyes.

_Is that Dark?_

But she recognized the scent to be someone else. It was Tempest.

"Jayden, are you alright?" her concerned voice came as Jayden opened her eyes and rose her head.

"Oh, Uh, yes." she said groggily. Her head felt like it weighed twice the normal amount. Her eyes could barely open.

"The sun is at the top of the sky. You've slept pretty late." The peach lioness said, her ice blue eyes searching Jayden's.

"Oh." The brown lioness said again, and shook her head. She stood rather slowly, her whole body feeling heavy.

"Are you sick? I can get Mairu, just go back to sleep."

"No, I'm fine." she said finding the rest of her voice. "I just didn't sleep well last night." _Didn't sleep at all, more like. _"But I'm fine, Tempest."

"You sure?"

"Yes, thanks though. How are you? Your wound?" Jayden peered over her sister's back. "Wow, Temp, it looks great!"

The wound on the smaller lioness's back had mostly closed and was just a thick scab. There was some redness, but not nearly as much as before.

"Yes, I'm so relieved, it's looking much better thanks to the medicine. I fell like I'm getting my energy back too. It's such a relief. That means Mani and Dad will stop fawning over me. They ask me every two minutes if I'm okay or do I need anything, or do I need to rest? It's exhausting!" Tempest flipped her hair from her eyes and huffed out a sigh.

Jayden smirked. "Oh yes, it must be so tiring being waited on so intently."

Tempest swatted her sister with her paw. "Why you! You know, you looked like mom when you said that."

That surprised Jayden. "Really?" she hadn't realized she resembled Vitani in any way. Or cared that she did.

"Well don't get excited, _I _look like her all the time." Tempest said with a gleam in her eye. Jayden laughed.

"You must be feeling better, you're back to your own ornery self."

"That's why you all love me! Come on, you nearly missed lunch, sleepy head."

Tempest lead Jayden out of the cave and down the steps into the clearing where lunch was being brought. Several Pridelanders were still eating, Dark included.

Jayden almost halted her footsteps, but forced herself to keep going. Her heart started to race. She told herself to try to act normal, and she stood beside Tempest and took a bite of the prey. Dark looked up and noticed her. She gave a polite smile and nod as she would have done to any friend.

"Hey!" Dark said. He looked to have just finished eating his fill. "What are you doing today, Jayden?"

"Oh, um." Jayden nervously looked at her sister, but she was just eating, her head bowed, chewing on a piece of bloody fat.

"There you are, Jayden!" Came a voice. Drayden walked over to them, a chunk of meat in his mouth. He set it down by his paws when he was near enough. "I was saving this for you incase you missed the meal again. But I see you got here in time."

"Yes I did. But thank you. You don't always have to save me a part of the meal, you know." Jayden said in a light tone. She was beginning to see how Drayden favored her. It could be true he liked her.

_Well that's not my fault. I've never lead him on._ she thought.

"What should I do with this then?" Drayden said, lifting one of his front paws and gesturing at the meat.

"Actually, could I take it?" Dark said, moving closer. "My mother probably didn't make it over here to eat yet. She's been getting kind of skinny. I should make sure she's eating."

"Sure." Drayden said, pushing the meat toward the black lion.

"That's nice of you." Jayden blurted. _He's so sweet to his mom!_ She felt herself blush.

Dark took the meat in his mouth and with a wave of his tail, he took off. Tempest and the remaining lionesses feasting on the left over prey were dispersing. Jayden ate a little more prey while Drayden said, "By the way, your parents are wanting to speak to you. They said to meet them at the Southern border."

"Oh, alright." The lioness replied.

"I'll go with you. I've kinda been looking for an excuse to stretch my legs." he said.

"So you're looking forward to our big trip home?" she joked, taking a few last bites of what was left of the meal.

Drayden chuckled. "Maybe. It wasn't so bad."

"I was worried for Tempest the whole time."

"She seems better now."

"Yes, much better." she agreed happily. "And plump!"

"She's almost ready to have her cub right?" Drayden asked.

"Yes, I think it's about 2 weeks away, if things go as scheduled.

Jayden stepped away from the prey. Not much was left, just bones and scraps. The two lions headed out to meet Vitani and Tome. It was nice out today. Eventhough the sun was directly over head, it wasn't overbearing. There was a slight breeze, and birds were singing joyfully.

"Did my parents say what they wanted to talk to me about?"

"No, not really."

"Oh. I hope it's nothing like: 'Jayden, you need to work on your hunting!'" she imitated her mother's voice, and made herself giggle.

"You hunt fine, that's not what they're gonna say." he replied. Drayden looked at th ebrown lioness with an odd look in his eye.

"What?" Jayden said, noticing the look.

"You're different here." he said.

"What?"

"You act different. Ever since we got to the Pride Lands."

"I do?" she swallowed hard. "How?"

"You seem happier. Lighter."

"I think it must be from being around all my old friends again." Jayden said, telling the truth.

"There were times back home when you seemed sad." he said quietly. Jayden didn't respond at first. She hadn't realized he'd noticed.

Quickly, she thought of something to say. "Zula's really loosened me up," she laughed nervously. "I'm not used to being in such a large pride with so many old and new friends. I really like Taeliss and Mebala too. Having friends makes me glad."

"I'm your friend." Drayden said.

"Of course you are!" Jayden said with a light tone. "Now I just have lots of friends."

"Who were you closest to when you were cubs?" Drayden asked.

_Dark… _she thought immediately. But instead, said, "Well…hmm.. We were all close. Me, Dayya, Zuna, Zula, Malowa, Clous and Dark." she said cooly.

"Did you guys ever get into trouble?"

"Not me." _Well there was that one time me and Dark met at night when no cubs were allowed out at night and Sanu caught us._

She cleared her throat. Thoughts of Dark were distracting her too much. "Clous, Dark and Malowa did once." she tried to recover. She told him the story of Clous's rock sliding that almost ended with disaster.

Jayden wanted to ask Drayden about his cub hood friends back in his old pride, but she knew that might be hard for Drayden to revisit that era in his life since his friends were killed by the new King that had taken over. She felt bad she wasn't trying to include him in the conversation.

_It's a wonder he likes me- if he does- I can't even think of a decent thing to ask him, like a polite friend would._

Soon, the two arrived at the border, but Vitani and Tome were no where to be seen.

"Am I meeting them at the right time?" Jayden asked.

"Yes, this should be right."

Jayden attempted to sniff their scent incase they had come and gone, but she didn't catch either of them. She announced this to Drayden. He only shrugged and sat, saying they should wait for a little bit.

Jayden thought this seemed kind of suspicious. Maybe Drayden brought them out here on purpose, using her parents as a false pretense. She snuck a look at the peach lion to try to gauge his expression. She thought she could catch him looking guilty, but he was just casually licking his paw.

_Oh well. _she thought. _Even if he did bring me out here to spend time with me, what's the worst that could happen? It's a nice day out and he's my friend. _Jayden relaxed on the ground and stretched out. When she put her head down, and closed her eyes, she felt tiredness come over her. She was still sleepy from staying up all night. Her mind wandered and she thought of her and Dark wrestling in the night.

_It was really fun._ She felt herself smiling. _I really love him… I know I shouldn't but I do. I want to spent more time with him._

"Happy?" Drayden interrupted her thoughts.

Jayden opened her eyes, and hid her smile. "Um. Yes. It's such a nice day out. The sun feels good on my fur."

"Or are you just happy to be out with me?" Drayden joked. She caught eyes with him, his ice blue eyes were playful, and he had a smile, but she couldn't help feeling he said it to test her. Which means he was flirting.

_A little cheesy, but he's still charming. _Jayden admitted to herself She smiled and narrowed her eyes, "You think you're pretty special, huh?" she said in her best Vitani taunting voice. Drayden laughed. The hair that framed his eyes flipped out of position when he tossed his head. Jayden noticed that his bangs were the second feature that brought out his eyes. The first was the dark brown coloring around his eyes.

_Drayden is handsome. If I didn't love Dark I could probably see myself with him… if I gave myself time._

Drayden noticed her look. "What are you thinking?" he asked seriously.

"Nothing." she said a little too quickly, and looked away. He was about to respond when a couple voices came from behind Jayden.

"Wooo!" one shouted, "I beatcha!"

"No fair!" the other replied.

It was Clous and Afia. The burnt-orange lion trotted over to Drayden and Jayden. The little light orange cub caught up, she was panting and out of breath.

"Hey you two." Jayden greeted, happy for the distraction.

"You just beat your little sister in a race?" Drayden said. "You're supposed to let the cub win."

"Psh, no way!" Clous teased.

Afia growled and pushed Clous's muscular shoulder. "You're so mean!" she said. Jayden giggled.

"No, I'm not." the red manned lion said. He contradicted himself, though, when he put his paw on Afia's back and squished her lightly. Her cheek brushed the ground and dirt flew in her face and mouth and she tried to spit it out while trying to squirm out form under his older brother's paw.

She made it out, and charged over to Jayden. "Aunt Jayden! Make him stop!"

Jayden smiled. "I'm your cousin, actually."

"Whatever." she stuck her nose in the air, "You're totally old, that's all I know."

Jayden's mouth dropped, and Clous and Drayden broke into laughter. She could only join in.

_I wish I had a cub like her. She's so spunky and cute._

Afia suddenly plopped herself in Jayden's paws and gave her an order, "Wash me."

"Afia, can't you at least say 'please'?" Clous asked. The light orange cub sighed so heavily you would have thought Clous asked her to run a marathon.

"_Please_! And hurry up." she said.

Clous rolled his eyes.

"Oh boy." Drayden muttered.

Jayden happily obliged. The cub was a bit rude, but she liked her. She began licking her head and small shoulders. Afia smiled and leaned into the licks happily. Jayden never gave a cub a bath before. It made her feel oddly…right. It was a warm, happy feeling. She wanted to hug the cub and pretend she was her own.

_I could never pass for her mother. She's soft orange like Kiara, and I'm dark brown. She really looks like her mother. They are identical except Afia has yellow eyes and fluffy cheeks._

"You know Jayden," Clous said, "You look good with a cub. You should have one!"

Jayden's eyes almost bugged out of their sockets. _Why does he have to say that right here in front of Drayden? Does he think we're a couple?_

Clous laughed at her expression. "I'm only joking! Don't have a heart attack!"

Jayden recovered. "You're the one with a serious girlfriend, _you_ should be having cubs!"

"Oh right." Clous said as if that was on his agenda and he'd just forgotten. "But I still can't remember which one I'm dating. Zuna, Zula, Zuzu, I don't know anymore."

Jayden laughed and Drayden looked confused. "Now wait a minute, which one _are_ you dating?" he asked.

"Don't confuse him!" Jayden told Clous. "He's just learned the names of all the Prideland members." She turned to Drayden. "He's dating Zuna. She's the one with slightly more orange eyes. And if you look carefully her fur is smoother than Zula's. Zula's looks a bit rough, like mine."

"Your fur is fine." Drayden said.

"My _belly_!" Afia shouted from Jayden's arms. She was on her back and exposing her light peach stomach. Jayden smiled and gave her belly a big lick. The cub giggled.

"You're so cute, I just wanna eat you!" Jayden nibbled playfully at the cub's stomach. She squealed and laughed.

"That's it, she's yours." Clous said. "I'm telling my mom you're adopting her." He started off toward Pride Rock. Jayden just laughed. She stood and followed Clous, turning to Drayden and said, "Come on, let's head back, my parents must have forgotten to come."

Drayden nodded and followed too. Afia chased after them, swatting their tails.


	18. Can't Have Him

Chapter 18: Can't have him

Clous, Jayden and Dayya dropped Afia off with her mother and father who had just finished a patrol of the lands together. Kiara seemed grateful when Clous reported about the bath Afia got. Then the three of them went to the large sunning rocks on the side of Pride Rock to hang out. Mebala, Taeliss, Nundi and Zula were there. The adolescents were talking, Nundi was looking bored, and Zula was resting with her eyes closed. When they approached, Zula perked her head up.

"Hey!" she cheerfully greeted them. Mebala and Taeliss stopped their conversation to say hello too. Everyone settled down either on the rocks or the dirt that surrounded them. They all got to talking about one thing or another.

Clous asked Zula, "Where's Zuna?"

"Um… she's out on a walk with my mother, I think."

Clous only nodded, and they went back to talking normally.

A little later, Zuna did join them, along with Ciara, Kivu and even Ahila. Jayden kind of wanted to see more of what the light peach adolescent was like. The only time they had been around each other was when they met in the gorge. The diverse group didn't stay together long. Some dispersed for one reason or another, including Ahila, so Jayden didn't get much of a chance to talk to or listen to her. She only said a few things to Taeliss and Mebala and that was it.

The day passed quickly and nighttime approached. Jayden's heart began to beat faster -as it had done many times over the past few days-as she thought about meeting dark _I'll go to the spot again tonight. _she decided.

When everyone was heading to bed, she trotted over to the other side of Pride Rock and went to the standing rock. Dark wasn't there yet, but she had a feeling he was coming. She lowered herself in the grass and let it cover her. It wouldn't cover her completely, but it was just enough for er to be hidden. She tried not to giggle. _I feel like a kid again._

She didn't wait long before a black shape moved toward her. She planned to jump out and scared him just as soon as he walked a couple more paces…

"I can see you there!" A confidant voice rang out.

Jayden groaned and stood up. "Ugh! The grass wasn't long enough."

"Don't blame the grass." Dark joked. Jayden smiled.

"You'll never guess what I did today." she said.

He sat. "What?"

"Something I've never done before. I gave a cub a bath!"

"Afia? Gah, how can you stand her?" Dark cringed.

"She's alright. She's very cute."

"Well I don't see it. She's a handful, no wonder Kiara and Kovu have Kivu or Clous babysit her so much."

"Don't be mean!" Jayden said playfully.

"Okay, okay, sorry. Why were you so excited about bathing a cub?" he asked.

"I don't know. I guess it was kind of nice." She lowered her head, unable to describe why.

"If you're so into bathing, you can bathe my paw if you want." Dark said, "I think I might have stepped in a gazelle pie earlier today."

"Ew no!"

"Aw come on," he dropped to his belly and presented his paw, "Come on, you're my friend aren't you?"

She laughed, "I'm not doing that."

He pretended to be hurt, "Fine, I'll remember that. I'll remember how unhelpful you are."

"I am helpful. I'm helping you watch out for a shooting star, remember?"

"Oh yeah, thanks, maybe we'll spot one tonight."

"It could be a lucky night." she agreed, settling in the grass too. The two looked at the stars but still talked. Dark said he had gone on a walk with his mother and Zuna earlier. He said it was very nice and relaxing. He also confessed he was a little afraid of losing Sanu. She was an older lioness and mortality weighs heavy on one's mind when age advances. She showed signs of her aging on their walk when Sanu needed to stop suddenly. She had reported her joints were hurting, and that's when Dark noticed the wrinkles around her eyes, and skinniness in her shoulders.

Jayden hiped and prayed with all her soul tha tSanu still had a long life a head of her because it would be so hard, _too _hard on Dark if he lost her. He had already lost so much. Dark didn't dwell on the topic, he moved on to something else.

The two talked for a long time. At some point moving into laying positions on their backs. Eventually they got silent and just watched the stars.

_This is just like when we were cubs._ Jayden thought. _Though we aren't laying super close to each other. _She looked at the space between them: enough for one more lion there. She wanted to move closer but she was afraid. What would he say or do? If he didn't like it, could she play it off like it was an accident? _No way._ She looked back to the stars. The night around her was quiet. The air was still. It was a warm night and she felt extra cozy and warm inside and out.

_This would be perfect if Dark and I…_ She glanced at him. Dark was still laying on his back, paws resting on his cheat. His eyes were closed and he breathed deeply.

She hesitated, then whispered, "You awake?"

She got no response. Before she could stop herself, she scooted closer to the black lion, moving from her back to her belly. She waited to see if the movement would wake him, but it didn't. Her heart pounded as she lifted her paw. Slowly she moved her paw towards Dark's and softly touched the back with her pawpad. Her eyes darted to his to see if they'd open. He was still asleep.

She felt her heart melt as she relaxed her paw on top of his. _His paw is so big. I love his paws, and everything about him._ She became sad as she remembered how they couldn't be together, tears started welling in her eyes. _Never_. She pulled her paw away and stood.

The quick movement and sound of rustling grass woke Dark. "Oh, I must have fallen asleep." He said, moving to his belly and using the paw Jayden touched to rub his eyes.

Jayden quickly turned away so he wouldn't see her face. "Yep, so I guess that means it's off to bed!" she said, and added, "Goodnight!" and trotted off.

Dark watched her go, "Goodnight."

When Jayden got in the cave, she found her usual spot by Zula. She noticed Dayya was sleeping next to Zula on the other side.

Jayden tried to settle quietly by Zula, but the movement woke her up.

"Jayden?" she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay? You've been moving around in your sleep the past few nights."

"Yeah, I'm sorry to wake you. I haven't really been sleeping well. But it's okay, I'll keep trying."

Zula nodded and put her gray head back in her paws. Jayden lowered hers too and closed her eyes. She had so many crazy emotions inside her, but it didn't take quite as long as usual to fall asleep.

The morning seemed to come way too early. Jayden felt Zula stand beside her and heard lots of yawns and movement. She went ahead and got up too, though she only figured she'd gotten four or five hours of sleep. Zula noticed how tired she looked.

"Did you get enough sleep?"

"Well, I still feel tired, but I'm okay."

"How long have you been unable to sleep at night?"

Suddenly Dayya who had just gotten up too burst in, "You don't sleep at night?" she asked Jayden.

Jayden felt annoyed. "I do, just not well at first." she said, wanting to drop the subject. Dayya opened her mouth to say something when a hard voice came form the entrance of the cave.

"Well if you're not tired at night then it's clear you're not doing enough during the day." It was Vitani. She walked over to them and frowned at Jayden. "From now on, you will partake in the hunt everyday. That should ensure you have something to do with your free time other than be lazy. I'll be sure to tell Kiara, she will be more than happy to oblige. You start today, we'll be leaving in an hour." she said, then dismissed herself. She moved near the back of the cave to find Kiara and Kovu.

Jayden glared at her mother's back, rising her lips in a silent snarl. She almost muttered a word under her breath, but managed to keep it in.

"Woah." Zula said.

Jayden growled a little when Vitani was completely out of sight, "I don't know why she's so hard on me." she almost spat.

"She just wants you to do better." Dayya said. Jayden looked at her with a glare.

"So you're saying I'm lazy too?" she snapped.

"No. Well… Mother isn't wrong." Dayya said. Jayden glared at her more. "Joining the hunting team everyday will be good for you." she moved to exit the cave. Jayden wanted to claw her face. She managed to keep her mouth shut and claws down, though they raked the stone floor of the cave.

"Woah again." Zula said.

"What's _with_ them? Just because I can't sleep means I'm lazy?"

"Of course not. Maybe you're mom wants to motivate you."

"She just wants me to be like Dayya. And what about _her?_ What is she trying to do for me? She's always acting like she's better than me, but she's _not." _She fumed.

"I don't know what's up with her. Dayya just says stuff sometimes just to agree with whoever last spoke." Zula said, placing a paw on her friend's arm. "Just ignore her."

"They make me _so_ mad sometimes."

"Use that anger on the field." Zula suggested. "That'll show them."

"I will. I want to see their faces when I catch our meal."

"That's the spirit!" Zula smiled. In spite of her anger, Jayden smiled too. Zula was really good at making her feel better.

"After the hunt, let's go sit on the rocks behind Pride Rock." Jayden suggested.

"Rocks?"

"Well, it's a cliff. What's left of it anyway. It's where Dark, Clous and Malowa used to play. Remember when that rock fell on Clous? It's right above there."

"Oh yeah. Well we can go as long as we don't do any 'rock sliding.'" The girls headed outside. Jayden was going to stretch her legs to prepare for the up coming hunt when she saw Dayya and Dark at the bottom of Pride Rock's steps. She was nuzzling him under the chin. Jayden's heart stopped and she turned her eyes away.

"Dayya still has a thing for my brother, I guess." Zula said, quickly moving down the steps. "Quit that, you two love birds!" she shouted. Dayya giggled, and Dark looked embarrassed.

Jayden sure would have a lot of anger to use on the field.

* * *

The hunt went really well, and like Jayden predicted, she caught the meal nearly all by herself. The team had snuck up on some African Buffalo, but Jayden was the one to take one down. It was a smaller buffalo than the others, but only slightly. Vitani seemed slightly impressed, though she didn't say so. She only nodded at Jayden. The brown lioness still felt mad at her mother. She had to work a lot harder to gain Vitani's approval and to her it seemed like it was easier for Tempest and Dayya.

After lunch as planned, Jayden and Zula met on the cliff on the back of Pride Rock. This is the same place where Scar used to relax many years ago. The girls didn't know it, but they lay exactly where he did and dangled their arms over the side.

The cliff used to be a lot bigger, but age had crumbled it.

"That's where they'd rock slide." Jayden pointed with her paw. "Clous was almost seriously hurt."

"Mhm." Zula said, not sounding interested. Jayden tried to talk about a few other things. She was in a better mood since she caught that buffalo, but Zula seemed distracted and didn't respond as she normally did. Something was wrong.

"Are you okay? You seem distracted." Jayden asked.

"Oh. I guess you noticed. I was trying to be normal… um well."

"You can tell me."

"Um. I like someone. But I can't have them."

Jayden almost leaped up. _What?! Her too?_

"Who is it?"

"You won't tell?" her red-orange eyes turned on her.

"Of course not. We're best friends." Jayden smiled.

"It's... Clous."

"Clous? No way."

"Yes… ever since we were cubs. And okay… I don't just like him. I love him."

"Oh no…" Jayden was concerned.

"Yeah, I know. He's in love with my sister, and they're gonna live happily every after and have a cub someday, and it will be super cute and perfect, but won't be _mine._"

"Wow. I never knew you felt this way."

"I've never told anyone."

"Well I knew both of you liked him when you were cubs, but I didn't know… now…"

"Yeah, he chose her over me." She looked at her paws and laughed darkly, "Of course he did. I'm ugly."

"Don't be absurd! You and Zuna are identical. Except your eyes. And…" Jayden trailed off.

"Yeah! And my fur. It's rough and her's is perfectly smooth. Mine is ugly, I've tried licking it flat but it still sticks up."

"Come on, you're not ugly. Nothings wrong with your fur, mines the exact same way. I barely notice it."

Zula looked at Jayden and saw this to be true.

"Do you think _I'm _ugly cuz of my fur?" Jayden asked.

"No, you're beautiful."

"Well then come on, you're not ugly."

"So there's something wrong with my personality. That's worse." Zula sighed.

"Not that either!" Jayden said. "You're fun and hilarious." Zula didn't seem convinced so she continued, "I dunno why he didn't choose you anyway. Zuna is cool, but she seems so boring. There's a reason why you and I are friends and not her and I."

"She's mature, that's what it is." Zula said. Jayden pictured the other twin. Zuna did have an air of maturity about her. Like Ciara.

"Well then he likes her cuz she's the opposite of him. Clous is immature, so it's natural he'd like Zuna. Opposites attract and all that!"

"Hm!" Zula said, amused. "You think that's it?"

"It's gotta be."

The gray lioness smiled, then sighed again. Jayden felt bad for her. She knew _exactly_ how she felt. She, too was in love with someone she couldn't have because of her own sister.

_Though Dark and Dayya aren't exactly a couple like Clous and Zuna are._

"So you've never thought about telling him?" Jayden asked. "It might ease your mind."

"No way." she replied. "I don't want to intrude in their perfect fairy tale love story. Besides, it would just be awkward with them both from here on out. Forever. I wouldn't want that. I'll just wait till my feelings eventually go away."

"They won't." Jayden blurted, then realized what she said, "I mean it seems like a hard thing to get over since you've loved him so long." She recovered.

"Yeah it's especially hard to see them together, all lovey dovey. It tears me up inside." she said with a twinge of anger.

_Tell me about it. _Jayden thought. Suddenly an image came to her mind. A few days ago, Zula and Jayden had been hanging out with a few of their friends. Clous an dZuna were there talking quietly and lovingly. Maybe they were nuzzling or cuddling. Ciara and Kivu had been there too. Jayden looked over at Zula who had put her head in her paw to sleep and saw what she thought at the time was a raindrop on her cheek. It had just begun to sprinkle.

_It wasn't a raindrop after all. Zula's really hurt by this. She might even feel worse than I do…_

Jayden patted Zula's paw. "There are other boys." she said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Who, Nundi? He's the only other boy my age. She said dryly.

"Malowa!" Jayden teased.

"_So_ not my type!" Zula said, lightening up a little.

"Come on, he's not so bad. You two would make a great couple."

"He sure would keep me entertained with all his talking." Zula played along.

Jayden laughed, "You would have a cute cub! He'd be some creamy peach-gray color. A very attractive color."

"Sounds ugly." Zula said.

Jayden cracked up.

"Oh and don't say he's have a mix of my red-orange eyes and his teal one, cuz you know what color that makes?" she said, "Poop. Yes, poop brown."

Jayden couldn't stop laughing and it made Zula smile.

"No! You really would be perfect for Nundi though!" Jayden said after she regained herself. "If opposites attract, then only you could be with him, cuz you're so funny and lively, and he's so dull. Maybe you could brighten him up."

Zula laughed, "That would be hard but I would feel so accomplished. Hey do you think your mother would be proud of me if I changed him?" she took on a look of eagarness to tease Jayden. "Since it's clear she takes pride in everyone _but_ you."

Jayden swatted Zula. "Hushh! I'll have you know that I got a _nod_ out of her today."

Zula gasped.

"Yep. Like this." Jayden stood and mimicked a classic Vitani face: narrowed eyes, frowning lips. She nodded exaggeratedly and stiffly. Zula burst into laugher.

Jayden smiled. _I hope I've made her feel better. IT was really nice of her to confide in me. I wonder if I should tell her about my feelings for Dark? We are best friends. But he's her brother. I can't tell her that I'm in love with her brother, that would be too weird. What if she told him? Or let it slip to Zuna, or what if Dayya found out? Then the whole Pride would know in a matter of minutes. No I can't tell her or anyone._

Jayden was just about to sit down again when Kiara suddenly jumped out, rushing over to them.

"Kiara, what's the matter?" Jayden asked, startled.

The orange queen moved her head from side to side frantically. She looked over the crumbled edge. "Have either of you two seen Afia? Has she been here? She's heard that _stupid_ sliding story from her brother."

"No, we haven't seen her." Zula said, standing.

"She's not with Clous? Or Kivu?" Jayden asked.

"No!" The queen looked scared. "She was with me last. We were in the cave. I fell asleep and when I woke up, she was gone. I'm so irresponsible!"

"No you're not, come on, let's go look for her together." Jayden said to her aunt, and the three of them quickly went around to the front of Pride Rock.

"I've already searched the den." Kiara said, then they rushed down the steps. Kovu was at the bottom and rushed up to them.

"She wasn't on the cliffs?" he asked frantically.

"No!"

"Alright, I'll gather some lionesses and go toward the East border. You girls, can you run to the water hole to check?"

"Yes of course." Jayden said, and Zula nodded. They ran off quickly while Kovu and Kiara ran in the other direction.


	19. Boyfriend

Chapter 19: Boyfriend

Dark and Jayden ran side by side without speaking. For once, Jayden's heart was pounding for an entirely different reason than usual. Cubs get lost and into trouble on a regular basis, but something about this situation gave her a bad feeling. They came into a clearing just before the waterhole, and Jayden was just about to suggest they split up. The words, "We'll cover more ground," were on her lips, but before she could speak them, Dark said, "Look," and pointed with his paw. In the dirt were fresh paw prints. Some were small and some were big.

Jayden rushed to the prints and while being careful not to step on them, she smelled the small prints, then the big set. "It's hard to tell but It must be Afia, she's the only cub in the Pride. The big ones I don't recognize at all." Jayden reported.

"I'm going to get Kovu just in case. You stay here and look for more clues." Dark said, then sped tried to follow the paw prints in the dirt. They were hard ot see but she could see the big ones go on while the little ones stopped.

"Afia?" Jayden started to call. She could be nearby. "Afia!" She trotted along in the direction the larger paws went. When they disappeared, she didn't know which way to go, so she tried to cover a large area around the paws.

Suddenly she heard, "Help!"

"Afia!" Jayden ran as fast as she could toward the voice. A screech came next which made her run faster, "I'm coming!"

In just a few seconds, Jayden found the cub, but she wasn't alone. Holding Afia down to the ground with a large paw was a leopard. Jayden recognized him right away.

"You!" _It's that same leopard from before!_

"Help me, Jayden!" Afia squeaked from below the big cat's paw. She was squished flat on her belly from the pressure, her legs flailed helplessly to the side.

Jayden became enraged, and leaped into the scene. She shoved the big leopard roughly in the side, trying to push him off Afia. "What are you _doing?_" She screamed at the leopard.

The spotted cat stood solidly, still holding the small cub under his paw. She scrambled furiously and tried to bite him. His claws dug into her fur a little as a response.

"Get back." the broad faced cat demanded.

"Let her go!" Jayden tried to shove him again, and was about to bite him when he lifted his other paw and with it, rammed the side of her head.

Jayden snarled and rose up to retaliate, when the leopard said, "Stop or I'll kill her!" His claws extended further. Afia screeched again and Jayden's heart lurched.

"Stop! She's just a cub!" she tried to plead, "She's done nothing to you!"

"Not her, but you! You broke my tail!" the leopard said with a break in his voice as if just talking about it hurt. Jayden remembered how she'd gotten the leopard to leave her family alone long enough to they could pass through his lands, and it was by chomping on the cat's tail.

"It was already broken! That's why it hurt so bad!"

"You hurt me! So I will hurt your precious Pride by taking your cub."

"This is ridiculous," Jayden shouted, "We were just passing through your lands to get here, you were the one being unreasonable. We had to chase you off so we could pass, if you got hurt, then its because of you!"

"Then if this cub gets hurt, it's because of you." the leopard retorted, then lowered his head, teeth bared. Before he reached Afia, Jayden jumped in. She unleashed her fury and managed to push him off the cub. Afia scrambled up and out of the way. The leopard leaped on Jayden and mauled her neck with his teeth. She roared in pain, then claws his shoulders to try to get him to stop.

_Get his tail! _she told herself, but she couldn't get him to release her neck.

A tremendous roar sounded behind Jayden and her opponent, and suddenly the dagger-like teeth were removed from her neck. She inhaled deeply when she was released. She hadn't realized she was holding her breath.

Dark had returned and was fighting the leopard. The brown lioness shook her head and then looked around her legs for Afia. Afia ran straight to her, looking how Jayden had never seen her before: Scared, quiet.

The cub hugged Jayden's leg and she quickly squeezed the small body with her paw in a hug, then ushered her away saying, "come on." Jayden had to get Afia away from the battle as fast as she could, but it was hard. She wanted to stay and help Dark.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a small voice by her paws, "Jayden you're bleeding."

"I'm fine. Let's get you to your mom. We must hurry." Jayden picked the light orange cub by the scruff of her neck and ran back home. It wasn't long until Kovu bolted past her, Tome hot on his heels. They headed toward where Dark and the leopard fought.

"Daddy!" Afia called, and reached out to him as he passed.

"He's taking care of the intruder right now." Jayden explained, and within seconds, Kiara and her friends Toni and Kanai came rushing over to her.

"Oh, thank you!" Kiara practically shouted as Jayden put her cub on the grass. The orange cub tackle-hugged her mother's arm and Kiara gave her huge licks over her head and back. "My Afia is safe." The loving queen murmured.

"We heard the roars and went to get Kiara and Kovu." Toni told Jayden

"It's good that you did, because I need to get back there to check on Dark…" Jayden said as she turned to leave.

"Wait," Kanai stepped up. "You should really let Tali look at your neck, it's bleeding."

"No, I'm fine," Jayden insisted, stepping away. "I'll be right back." she dashed off before the lioness could say anything else. She didn't get very far when she saw Dark approaching her at a trot.

"Dark!" She hurried to him. "Are you okay? What happened to the leopard?"

"Kovu and your dad are fighting him. They told me to head back. They looked like they had a handle on the fighting. Besides, I wanted to check on you, are you okay?" He moved his muzzle close to her neck wounds to inspect them.

"I'm fine," Jayden said again, though now she was beginning to feel the stings on her neck. "What about…" Jayden's question went unfinished. Of course Dark was fine. There was no blood on him, not a scratch.

"I think we should get those looked at." he said gently. He slowly reached out a paw and lightly touched her own. The touch was gentle and kind. She couldn't stop looking in his grey-blue pools of eyes. After a second, she nodded, and together they headed back toward Pride Rock.

Before they could get there, Drayden ran toward them so fast it was as if his paws were on fire.

"Are you okay?" he asked, sniffing her wounds.

Jayden pulled away, "Yeah I am, It's not that bad."

"You need to see Tali, come on." Drayden said and lead the way. Dark started to go with her but Zuna and Clous had walked up to Dark then, and were asking him what was going on.

So Jayden let Drayden lead her to the den where Tali was checking on Afia. The light brown lioness examined Jayden's wounds. There were several puncture wounds around her neck and some scratches on her body. The neck wounds were bleeding a bit, and Tali had to lick it away to clean it.

"The bites are shallow. He didn't have a completely firm hold of you." she reported, "Good thing he hadn't, otherwise he would have done some heavy internal damage. Although I can tell there will be some bruising around the wounds, but that's minimal compared to what could have happened." She looked Jayden in the eye.

She nodded, feeling fortunate. "What about infection?" she asked.

"I'll make some medicine for you, but you'll have to get someone else to apply it for you. And to clean the wounds as well. For now, please rest while I prepare the medicine." Tali exited the den without saying more.

"She's really good at this." Jayden said, meaning to think it, but it came out loud.

"Yes, and you're really lucky nothing worse happened, you know that right?" Drayden spoke up beside her.

Jayden turned to him. Why did he sound so stern? He had a strange look to his eye. He sighed, "I just worry about you. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Well thank you." she replied, "But I'm okay. Bad things happen, I was just glad to be there to help Afia."

"You should rest." Drayden gestured with his head in the direction of her bed.

"Sounds good." she said, moving away, but Drayden said,

"Your wound is dripping." And he leaned in and licked her neck over one of the small puncture wounds. "You should probably press a paw on it you know. To help stop the bleeding."

Jayden blushed and nodded. She said nothing more and moved toward her bed. She actually felt a bit tired.

She lay down and pressed a paw over the lightly bleeding wound. She closed her eyes, but peeked out a few seconds later to see if Drayden had left. He had.

_I am _not_ even going to think about what he just did. _The lioness thought, trying not to feel flustered. Despite her wishes, she did end up thinking about it and decided Drayden definitely had feelings for her. Maybe he loved her. It complicated things, so Jayden didn't like it.

She rested for a short while until Tali came up with the medicine. It was a goopy liquid with little leaves chopped up in it. Jayden wondered if Tali had chewed it in her mouth. Tali applied the medicine to Jayden's stinging wounds. Mairu came by to check Tali's progress and nodded with approval. Mairu seemed to agree that Tali was proficient with medicine.

Jayden was still feeling tired, her thoughts all muddied, so she went to sleep.

When she woke up later, it was night time. There were many lionesses including her friend, Zula all around her sleeping. Jayden wasn't sure what time it was, but she had to get up to stretch her legs and possibly get a drink of water. She wasn't even thinking about Dark until she saw him approaching Pride Rock's steps as she was coming down.

"Oh, hey." she said, surprised, but happy to see him.

"Hey. How do you feel?"

"Alright, my neck doesn't sting as much since Tali put some medicine on. How does it look?" Jayden stretched out her neck, hoping Dark would move close and put his face near her's. Maybe even some of his mane would brush her cheek. She'd get a full waft of his rain-like scent.

Dark looked at the wounds but didn't move close. "Looks clean." he said simply. The sudden way he said it made Jayden think Dark had seen Drayden quickly clean the wound. Had Dark been in the cave at that time? She couldn't remember.

"Good. Well I was just about to walk to the waterhole to get a drink."

"I'll go with you." he said right away.

"Thanks." she smiled.

The two walked quietly for a little bit. She passed some dark bushes and quiet trees. The breeze was even quiet tonight; everything was still.

"Did my dad and Kovu chase that leopard off?" Jayden asked.

"Yeah, it didn't take long with those two fighting him. You know how good they are at fighting. They must be the best two fighters in the Pride right now. Well our "Joint Pride" I should call it while you're family is here. They got Ol' Spot to run faster than any animal I've ever seen."

Jayden giggled. "Well you're a good fighter yourself. You can be third best in the pride."

"Nah, come on. Kivu's better. _Then_ me." he joked.

"Clearly you've thought about this!" she smirked and he chuckled.

Jayden sighed, "I can't believe we led that leopard here. It was several days away from the border that we passed him, he followed us that whole way and we had no idea."

"It's not your fault. He could have followed your scent. He seemed like an extremely stubborn type of animal. I don't think he is all too bright." Dark's gentle voice explained.

_I wish I had been able to beat him myself._ Jayden thought._ I thought I had discovered a new talent in myself. I thought I was a pretty good fighter once I concentrated enough. I just need more practice. Maybe I should ask Dayya or Zula to spar with me._

Jayden and Dark had made it to the waterhole, and she took long heavy drinks. A few other animals were about. Some zebra and gazelle were up too late, some drinking at the water, some just standing eating grass. Dark watched them and Jayden watched Dark.

* * *

The next day, Drayden was waiting for Jayden outside of the cave. She wasn't expecting him, but went along with him anyway. Zula met up with them and the three of them went for a walk around the border. Despite Jayden's wound, she still joined the hunting party when it was time for lunch. She knew if she didn't go, her mother would have said something-wound or no wound. Jayden did trip once and miss a kill but quickly got back into the swing of it during the second half of the hunt. Nothing that elicited another nod from her mother, but she was still proud of herself none the less. Trying to rag the kill back made her neck bleed though, so the other lionesses took care of that.

During lunch, Drayden came over and licked her wounds briefly again. A few lioness who were eating nearby snickered or made other amused noises, and Jayden blushed. She hoped Dark hadn't been around to see it, but she wasn't about to raise her head and start looking around.

After lunch, Drayden called her over to the side so he could talk to her in private. She suspected what this conversation would be about, and her heart pounded as she went with him. They stopped under a nearby tree and Drayden looked at her with his ice blue eyes.

"There's something I want to tell you." he started. "Well I've been wanting to tell you for a while."

Jayden returned his gaze.

"I care about you a lot. A lot lot. And I hate when you get hurt."

"You say that like it happens all the time." Jayden said, not sure if she should sound joking or serious.

"Well there's this, " he gestured with his paw at her neck, "And you sprained your paw a little while ago. And it always seems like you get hurt when you're around that Dark lion."

"What's Dark got to do with it?" she blurted.

"I don't know." He said, then shook his head, "We're getting off track here." he sighed. "What I'm trying to say is: I want to take care of you and you should let me. As your boyfriend."


	20. Competition

Chapter 20: Competition

Jayden swallowed. _Meet his gaze, don't look away. _She told herself. _That would be just like running, like you always do. But also say something!_

"What do you think about that?" Drayden asked patiently.

"Well Um…" Jayden began, looking down for an instant, then back up. "Well I appreciate that you want to help me."

"I want to take care of you and be around you." he correctly. He nuzzled the side of her cheek with his. "We're a good team. We're good friends."

"Yeah we _are_ good friends Drayden." She said.

"Come on, you don't have any other sort of feelings for me?" he looked at her with a smile. She hesitated, although she knew the answer was _no_ but she didn't want to hurt his feelings. Drayden took this hesitation as admission of guilt, or in this case, admission of having feelings for him.

He smiled, "So maybe a little, but I haven't won you over completely yet. Well alright, I can wait."

"But Drayden, I _like_ being just friends."

"How do you know you won't like dating? Have you ever dated anyone?"

Jayden hesitated, "No." she lied.

"Well there. You might like it."

_I'd love it… just not with you._ Jayden thought sadly. She could never say it outloud. She didn't want to hurt his feelings like that. But she had to make sure he knew where she stood.

"As of right now, it's a no." she said gently, making sure to look in his eyes. "I'm sorry Drayden. I just need time to… I guess think about it."

"Okay!" he seemed excited.

"That doesn't mean after I think about it, I'll say yes." she dared to say, but with a smile. She did enjoy his spirit.

He smiled and Jayden thought he would shout, "Challenge accepted!"

The two walked back toward Pride Rock, both feeling okay. Jayden didn't feel too freaked out, somehow. She had let him down without hurting his feelings. She didn't think she could ever come to love Drayden, but she could at least try to _think_ about it as she promised she would.

Thinking about being with Drayden wasn't terrible. He really was a nice guy, and good looking too. It would be alright if they were together. They would even have cute cubs someday if they wanted and they were ready. But Jayden was too in love… with Dark. But the problem was it was unfair to Drayden and herself if she was unwilling to love Drayden because she loved Dark and at the same time unwilling to admit her feelings to Dark and try to re-kindle _their _love.

_Should I try to love Drayden? Or tell Dark how I feel? _

When they got back to Pride Rock's base, Jayden saw Dayya resting in the sunlight. She thought now would be a good time to practice their sparing. Jayden approached her sister and she opened her eyes.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Hey, fighting that leopard made me think I need to practice more with sparring. Will you be my partner?"

Dayya leaped up, "Of course!"

Toni, who had been laying nearby, lifted her head. "This ought to be good." And propped her head on her paws. Drayden sat near her to watch the sisters too.

"I hope we don't draw a crowd." Jayden murmured. "I don't really want a lot of lions watching."

"That's the least of your worries right now!" Dayya taunted, and leaped at Jayden. Their spar began. That was Jayden's first note to herself, when fighting, think of nothing else.

Jayden did well to block everything out of her mind, and found her groove. She fought well, sometimes it seemed like Jayden was in the lead, but Dayya would bring it back. This happened several times before the sisters broke apart, both panting heavily.

A few cheers went out for the both of them and Jayden realized for the first time a small crowd had gathered. It was just Clous, Zuna, Zula, Toni, Kanai and Drayden was still there of course. She felt a small hint of embarassment that they'd all been watching, but she was grateful there wasn't more. She felt good about her moves, and with more practices like that more often, she would grow to be a great fighter.

"Phew, I'm beat!" Dayya admitted, laying down to rest.

"Yes, that's enough for now. Thanks, Dayya. I hope we can do that more often."

"Definitely!"

Drayden dropped down from the rock he had settled on and came over to Jayden, "Good job, but maybe you should see Tali again about your wound."

"Good idea, thanks!" Jayden said and hurriedly hopped up the stairs before he could try to lick her wounds again. She could hear some footsteps following her, and when she turned to look, she was glad to see it was Zula. Jayden had wanted to talk to her, and it looked like the feeling was mutual with the extreme urgent look in her eyes.

The two went together to Tali who was inside the den. She reapplied the medicine that was left over in the large leaf from the day before. Tali said she was glad Jayden had a workout. She said it was a good sign that no infection had set in, otherwise the infection would have sapped her strength and she wouldn't have been able to fight at all.

When Tali was done, Zula practically pushed Jayden into the farthest corner of the den. Jayden thought Zula probably would have dragged her by the tail if she had protested.

"Something happened between you two!" Zula hissed.

"Drayden? Yes I guess."

"You didn't TELL ME?!"

"It just happened! Before I sparred with Dayya."

"You still didn't tell me!"

"I'm telling you now!"

"So you're a couple now?"

"No!"

"What then?"

"I'm trying to tell you, but you keep interrupting." Jayden said, and Zula stared at her as if to say "_I'm close lipped now!"_

Jayden was beginning to enjoy this. She had never felt desired before, so telling this story might be pretty fun. "Drayden asked me to be his girlfriend."

Zula squealed.

"Shh!" Jayden hissed.

"You're so _cool_!" she said.

"Cool?"

"Yeah! I mean, wow, he does like you! He admitted it! Wait- did he said he liked you or loved you?"

"Well, neither." she told her word for word what Drayden said, enjoying the conversation. She could tell Zula was enjoying it too, even when she got to the part where she turned Drayden down. Jayden was glad Zula didn't seem like she cared that she turn down the peach lion. She was just excited for her and excited for some drama in general. Typical Zula.

"So I'm just supposed to be _thinking_about being with Drayden. And I actually am thinking."

Zula gasped.

"But just thinking." Jayden warned.

She squealed again, "This is so exciting!"

"Just don't go around telling everyone."

"Everyone already thinks you're a couple."

"They do?" Jayden flushed, "I don't want that…"

"Well then you need to make a decision quickly! The more time you spend thinking' about it is more time everyone assumes you're a couple. Even Drayden. So if you're gonna let him down for real, you should do it soon."

"Yeah, you're right." Jayden said, and again wished she could tell Zula the reason why she didn't want to date Drayden right now. _Maybe I should tell Dark about how I feel._ She began picturing herself going to him, and she tried to think of what words she would use. As Jayden and Zula walked out of the cave and down the steps, Jayden tried to think of the different reactions he would have and what his replies would be.

When they got to the bottom of the steps, and Zula trotted off, Jayden saw Dayya talking with Dark, who must have just walked up. Dayya was talking about the practice spar he missed. Dark nodded, listening well. Then she made a joke and he laughed loudly. Jayden was thinking about walking over and joining the conversation as any friend and sister would do, when suddenly Dayya licked Dark on the cheek and said, "So Dark, it's totally time for us to be together, don't you think? Remember when we were cubs and we talked about it? We've waited long enough." Dayya batted her eyes at him.

"Um.. Well…" Dark said, caught off guard. Jayden's heart beat fast.

"Come on…" Dayya said softly, and wound herself around Dark. His eyes followed her as she showed off her legs. Jayden had never seen her sister do this before; she was trying extremely hard.

"Well, I'm sorry but I can't." Dark said quietly, yet firmly. Dayya stopped in front of him, and their eyes met again. Jayden couldn't see her expression, but her body language looked defeated as her shoulders and tail drooped.

"Why?" The light red lioness asked quietly.

Dark didn't reply, so Dayya asked, "Is it that Ahila? I wasn't sure if you two…" she trailed off.

"Um…" Dark looked embarrassed and looked away.

Dayya's demeanor and tactic changed. "I'm better than her. Come on, we have history!"

"I've got to go." he said. "I'm sorry, Dayya."

"Fine." she picked up her paw to turn and walk away, but she stopped and met eyes with him once again. "I still care about you, and… no hard feelings."

Dark smiled, "No hard feelings." and he trotted off.

Dayya sighed heavily, and turned toward Jayden's direction. The brown lioness paniced, not wanting her sister to realize she had watched the whole thing. Jayden backed up. Her back foot rammed into one of the stone steps above her. She had forgotten she was standing in the middle of the stairs. She picked up the other foot and put it on the step, and fortunately when Dayya saw her, it looked as if Jayden had just come down the stairs from the den.

"Oh, Jayden…" Dayya said sadly, and nuzzled her sister.

"What's wrong?" the brown lioness asked. There was a huge lump in her throat and her hear felt like it could give out at any moment.

Dayya gave her sister the long version of what just conspired between her and the black lion. Jayden was glad to have actually seen the real thing so she knew what parts were exaggerations and which were factual. For instance, Dayya said Dark had said, yes he and Ahila were a couple, when actually he neither denied it or certified that claim.

Jayden had never seen her twin jealous before. It concerned her because it meant Dayya really was in love with Dark. It wasn't just a silly crush or anything else. Real love. She didn't know her heart could sink lower than it was already, but it did.

"I don't know why he likes that Ahila. She's not pretty. Her ears are too big." Dayya said, getting angry. "She was really insensitive that one day at the gorge when she blurted something about all black lions being bad. How could she just blurt out crap like that? She has no filter. And she's way too young for him. Don't you think?"

"Um, maybe." Jayden weakly replied.

"Well Dark is younger than me, but at least we're both adults. She's an adolescent. Do you think I'm too old for Dark?"

"No. He's really not that much younger than us." Jayden supplied. _What am I saying! _she thought.

Dayya sighed, "I want to be with him, I just gotta try harder. He'll see I'm better than her. I've never felt like this with anyone else before, I just gotta beat her! Nothing will stand in my way." and with hat, the light red lioness trotted away with a determined look on her face.

_Oh no. _Jayden thought, standing still where Dayya left her. _I have way too much competition. There's no way I can tell Dark anything. This is hopeless, maybe I should just be with Drayden. I could learn to like him… maybe even love him. I could be happy instead of this… jealous, angry and heart broken all the time. I'm going to tell him yes._

But she felt too emotionally exhausted to go find him now. She told herself she'd do it later, and went to the right side of Pride Rock to the sunning rocks. She lay down on one and tried to nap. She didn't fall asleep at first. She touched some of the puncture wounds at her neck with a delicate paw. They were scabbing over. She moved some of the medicine over them.

_They'll heal soon. I could heal too._


	21. Love Story

Chapter 21: Love Story

Jayden saw Drayden a little later that day, but she didn't get a chance to talk to him. He, Koru, Jai Sr. and Kovu were off to patrol the border. Someone had reported seeing a spotted cat near the border, but they weren't positive. As Drayden left with the other males of the Pride, he had turned and smiled at Jayden. She watched him go.

"Sometimes I think we need a new Zazu." came a voice from behind her.

"Oh!" she started, and turned around. It was Dark.

"I never met the bird," he went on, "But I heard from Simba and Nala he was great with scouting the lands and reporting intruders."

"Oh, yes. That sure would be helpful."

Kivu trotted up then, "That's a great idea! We could use a new bird like Zazu."

"Maybe you could talk to Simba about it. And ask how you even find a bird who's up for the job." Jayden suggested, glad for the distraction.

"It might be hard, the only reason Zazu was so loyal to the Pridelands was because of Mufasa. He saved the bird. Or maybe it was the other way around. I can't remember the story." Kivu chuckled.

"How does a bird save a lion?" Dark asked. Jayden giggled and shrugged.

"Time for a lesson from old Gramps!" Kivu said, and trotted off toward the waterhole where Simba and Nala had strolled off to earlier in the day.

"Can I come?" Jayden asked and trotted after her cousin.

"And me?" Dark followed.

"Sure!" Kivu smiled and off the three of them went. Jayden worried about being near Dark.

_I shouldn't spend time with him, if I'm really going to be Drayden's girlfriend._

But it was too late, they were already running through the long savannah grass, and soon the waterhole came into view. Simba and Nala were relaxing at the edge and perked their heads up when the three lions approached.

"Is something wrong?" Simba asked, looking worried.

"No, not at all." Kivu said. "We actually came for a story, and advice."

Simba visually relaxed. "Well I've got plenty of stories. How about the one with the giraffe and the dung beetle? Or perhaps the time I beat a whole troop of vicious monkeys back when I lived with Timon and-"

Nala patted Simba's arm, "That story might be a little _too_ exaggerated for the kids."

"Exaggerated? Oh. Well maybe…" the lion said.

Jayden grinned and thought, _The oldest couple in the Pride and you can tell they're still very much in love._

"We have a story in particular we want to hear." Kivu said, "Dark was saying we need a new majordomo like Zazu, since it would be great to have a bird to scout the lands for us."

"Oh, yes. Zazu." Simba stared at the sky and seemed to be reminiscing.

"Yes, and we wondered how Zazu got to be so loyal to the Pride lands in the first place."

"Oh, that was quite a long time ago that Zazu became friends with my father. You know, you kids should really sit down," Simba said to Dark and Jayden. They obeyed and got comfortable.

"My father was a young adult, so the story goes. Maybe your age, Dark. Maybe a little younger. His mane was still small, you see. And Zazu was a young one himself. Well my father and my mother, Sarabi had only just noticed each other and had barely begun to court each other. So one day my mother was off exploring, for she was a young curious lioness herself. She wandered far from Pride Rock and happen to fall into a deep crevice in the ground. I don't know how it got there or how she happen to fall into it, but she idd.

And she was so far away from Pride Rock that no one could hear her roars for herself. That's when a blue bird flew over and noticed my mother down in that hole. He flew off right away and knew exactly who to go to. Mufasa didn't want to believe him at first. Who would believe some bird you'd never met? But eventually he gave in, and followed the bird out to the crevice and together they got my mother out. My father was so grateful to the bird that he promised to give Zazu anything he and his family wanted, if they could give it. Zazu wished for safe passage in and around our lands, because apparently we had the bed source of bugs-I actually disagree, the place I used to live with Timon and Pumbaa had some great bugs."

"Simba…" Nala chided.

"Yes, yes, I know, anyway, so from then on, Zazu and my dad were very close and Zazu wanted to help any way he could, so he was my father's right-paw-bird. So to speak."

"That's nice story." Jayden said.

"Yes, but how did they get Sarabi out of the hole?" Dark asked.

Simba opened his mouth like he had an answer, but then looked confused. "I can't remember… you know, it might not have been my mom that was in the hole at all, I think it might have been my dad."

Dark and Jayden exchanged glances.

"That's okay, grandpa," Kivu said, "We get the idea of the story. Zazu wasn't just any bird, he had a reason to be loyal to the Pride lands."

"That's right." Nala said.

"How are we to find another one willing to work for us?" Kivu asked.

"Well you could fall in a hole…" Simba joked.

Jayden giggled. "And you'd wait down there til a bird came!" She said.

"Yeah right." Kivu huffed.

"Just keep your eyes open for a young bird that's not afraid. One that's always looking about and attentive." Nala suggested. "And I think you'll just have to ask."

"That might be hard." Kivu said. "But we'll try it. I've never really paid attention to the birds before. Well, not we have a plan, thanks!" he stood.

"You're very welcome." Simba said. "Now if you'll excuse me…" he yawned greatly. "I'm going to take my nap now before we head home for the evening."

"Of course. Goodbye!" Kivu said. Jayden and Dark also gave their _goodbyes_ and _thank yous_ and the three of them left.

"My grandparents are something, aren't they?" Kivu said.

"They're great." Jayden said. She admired how they were still together and happy after all these years.

Simba and Nala were looking a bit older now. Simba's mane was less shiny and a little messier, and Nala looked rather skinny. Both were still healthy though, and that's what mattered.

They got back to Pride Rock and evening was settling in. She didn't know if the patrol of lion had returned yet, but nobody appeared alarmed, so she assumed there had been no bad news yet. The spotted cat that had been seen could have very well been a cheetah, not the leopard that had been causing problems.

Jayden saw her family laying in their usual spot under Pride Rock and trotted over to them. She wondered where Dark would be going off to now, but she didn't turn around to look. They went their separate ways. She trotted over to Tempest's side. Tempest pulled her head up as she approached. Mani was standing behind her. Resting nearby was Tome, Vitani, Dayya and Larne.

"How are you?" Jayden asked Tempest.

"Good. I'm feeling much better."

"Her wound's looking better." Mani added.

"Yep! How is your neck?" Tempest asked, "Let me see."

Jayden stretched it out and showed them.

"It's looking okay." Tempest said. "I'm sure the leopard looks worse."

"I bet he does!" Jayden laughed. "Is there any word on what's going on out there?" Jayden gestured toward the border in the direction the lions left earlier.

"I haven't heard anything about it, and they haven't come back yet. I'm sure everything is fine though. Nothing half the males in our Pride can't handle." Tempest said.

"Yeah, no kidding." Jayden settled with her family for a while and talked. She noticed Dayya was uncharacteristically quiet, and remained so for the rest of the evening.

It wasn't long before Jayden saw Simba and Nala come back from the waterhole, and just when it was getting pretty dark, Koru, Kovu, Drayden and Jai Sr. returned as well. None of them saw the leopard or could pick up his scent. They had searched around the border and passed it for a while just to be sure. Jayden was about to stand and catch up with Drayden, but he looked so tired. She let him go. He walked up the stone steps and into the den where she assumed he was going to drop off to sleep as soon as he lay down.

_Well I can tell him in the morning…_ Jayden thought, but was becoming unsure of her decision. She was beginning to feel nervous about it. She tried not to think about it right then.

Tempest was yawning a bit, and she put her head down to sleep. Mani put his head protectively on her back. Jayden decided to go in the den to sit with Zula if she hasn't already gone to sleep herself. She was about to climb the stone steps when she stopped and her head turned right. She gazed toward the place where she had been meeting Dark at night. She knew she shouldn't go that way, but the pull was too strong. Her feet carried her there anyway. As she suspected, Dark was there, laying on his stomach.

"Hey." he said, seeming surprised. "I wasn't expecting you."

"Oh, how come?"

"Never mind. So I guess our spotted friend hadn't been seen after all. Kovu and the others came back with nothing to report."

"Yeah, I guess not." she said and sat a couple yards away from him. She felt annoyed. Maybe at herself, maybe at him. It's not like he made her come here. They never even discussed why they met here every night for the past few nights, they just did.

She wondered if he ever met with Ahila at night. As far as she knew, Ahila slept in the cave with most everyone else.

_Well that's what I think I know…_ she thought, and could feel the fury rising in her. That Ahila… _She sucks. And Dayya's right, she's not pretty. The whole ordeal sucks, I wish we never had to come here…_

"Is everything okay?" Dark said, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, uh yeah, fine." she tried to cover herself by repositioning herself, then licking some of the fur that stood up on her shoulder. She was starting to feel the business of the day fall heavy on her. She had done a ton today. She had walked part of the border with Drayden and Zula, joined the hunt, sparred with Dayya, and went out to the waterhole. She did get a chance to rest in the middle of the day, but still, that was a lot to do for someone recovering from a wound.

_Not that it's really that bad of a wound…_ Before she could get down on herself for being lazy, she realized the emotional upsets she had today also weighed on her energy, like Drayden asking her out, seeing Dark turn Dayya down because of Ahila, telling Zula about Drayden and then thinking about telling Drayden yes, and then this business of losing Dark… It was all exhausting. She plopped down in front of Dark in a laying position like him.

Dark studied her expression. "You look deep in thought."

"I was just thinking about Tempest and her cub. As usual, heh." she tried to lighten up. He only looked at her, and she wondered if he knew she was lying.

Neither of them said anything for a while. They just listened to the crickets chirp. Dark seemed distracted in some way, like her. Or exhausted like her. She thought about asking, but she was afraid of the answer. She pretended to hear Dark's cheery voice saying, _"Oh, I hung out with Ahila this evening. I told her all about the story Simba told us. And together we found a new bird for the Pridelands!"_

She pushed those ridiculous thoughts away. _Stupid._ she called herself.

"Jayden?" Dark said. She looked up. She hadn't realized she'd been staring at her paws. She was about to answer, "yes?" but stopped when she saw Dark's expression. His eyes were wide, he didn't have a smile, but not a frown either. It was a strange look; it reminded her of how he used to look at her when they were cubs on the few occasions they were alone together. They would just look in each other's eyes and they knew that look meant love.

He broke the silence, "We're friends… right?" The gentle and perfect way he said it made Jayden know he didn't mean _friends._ He meant more. And then he slowly touched his paw to hers in the softest way, and she knew without a doubt what he meant. She could barely believe it, but had no idea what to say.

She just stared at him, shocked, wide eyed. He leaned in closer and she could smell his rain scent. Dark closed his eyes and licked her cheek.

Inside, she exploded. And outside too, she leaped to her feet, knocking Dark's head with her's in the process.

"Ow!" he yelped.

"Oh my God." she blurted, staring at him.

"You made me bite my tongue!" he said with narrowed eyebrows.

"Oh my God." she said again. Then, "Sorry. But.. What? I mean…" Her mind was going crazy. _Dark kissed…. Likes…? _"I mean, _No_. You shouldn't have done that, why would you do that?" she blurted.

He stood quickly, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have, I know… I just couldn't…" he looked embarrassed. He reminded her of when he was just a small cub and was embarrassed and shy about everything.

Jayden was still frazzled, and more things blurted out, "Yeah, you shouldn't have. You can just cheat on Ahila like that. You can't be kissing other girls."

Dark paused then said, "Ahila?"

"Your girlfriend." Jayden supplied.

Dark looked like he wanted to laugh. "She's not my girlfriend."

"Yes she is."

"I think I would know."

Jayden opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. _She's not…? _"But you turned Dayya down because of Ahila, I was there watching when Dayya talked to you, I saw the whole thing."

"I did turn her down because of someone else… but it's not Ahila." he said very seriously and plainly with heavy meaning in his eyes.

It hit Jayden who he meant. "There's no way…" she muttered, more to herself. Had he loved her all along?

"But I know I shouldn't…" Dark said, looking down.

"We can't be together." Jayden blurted, thinking of Dayya.

"I know. Because you're dating Drayden. You're in love. I just thought, maybe you still liked me… sometimes you seemed like it... I was wrong, I'm sorry." He shook his head sadly.

"Hand on." she said, "I'm not dating Drayden." he looked at her.

"He's been around you a lot lately. And the way he licked your wounds…I just thought you two had something going on."

_So he saw that…_ she thought, blushing furiously. Then blurted, "No way!" _Although I was just about to tell Drayden yes today…_

"So you two aren't a couple?" Dark looked at her closely.

"No, we're friends and Pridemates, that's all."

"Oh. Wow. I thought…" he shook his head.

"And you and… Ahila… aren't…?"

"No."

"But you seem so chummy. At the spar you and her were all giggly. Then disappeared together. And it's happened more than once since then." she sounded jealous and petty.

"Ahila sometimes gets down because she lost her mother. They were very close. I just help her cope since you know, I lost my mother too. Most of the time the words that help her the most are the ones you used to tell me when we were cubs."

Jayden swallowed. Things were coming together. Dark moved closer to her, and smiled.

"What? What're you doing?" She stammered.

"This is good news."

"What?"

"You're not spoken for." he said simply. "And I think you love me."

Her eyes widened.

His smile got bigger, "I knew it!" He tried to put his arm around her back to pull her close, but she pushed him away with her front paw.

"We can't do this."

He looked hurt. "Why?" he said softly, quietly.

"Dayya loves you."

"Oh, not this again." he rolled his eyes.

"She does. For real, I've never seen her like that, so jealous. She thinks you're with Ahila, sh ehas no idea about you and me, she'd-"

"So there is a _you-and-me_?" Dark interrupted, grinning. Jayden waved a paw as if to wave the thought away, and continued,

"She'd be heart broken if she found out her own sister betrayed her and took the lion she loved."

"But what about me? And you?" he asked.

She shook her head. He moved closer and put a paw under her chin to make her look him in the eye. "Do you love me?" he asked bluntly.

His blue-gray eyes were so beautiful. "Yes." she said quietly, her heart still beating fast.

"Then we belong together."

She paused for a moment. There was silence for a while. Then she said softly, almost in a whisper, "I thought you forgot about me."

"What are you talking about?"

She looked down, "When I left the Pride lands, even before I left, you barely said goodbye to me. I thought you might promise to still love me while I was away. Or ask that I still love you. Or put up a fight that I was leaving, or something! But you didn't say anything."

"Jayden-

"So I thought that meant you didn't care…" she said, still not looking at him.

"Your parents were making you leave, there was nothing I could say or do that would change that. Of _course_ I wanted you to stay. Watching you go that day, knowing I wouldn't see you for a long time, maybe forever, that hurt more than anything. More than watching my biological mother die, and finding out that evil Black lion was my father."

Jayden looked at him then with wide eyes. She knew it was a big deal for him to say that. _I had no idea…_ she thought.

He went on, "I didn't know what to say or do back then, you were just leaving. I knew I could never stop loving you. I thought about you everyday while you were gone, and I never tried to forget you."

Jayden felt guilty, _I tried to forget you…_

He again tried to put his paw around her back, and this time she let him pull her into a hug. It felt so good to be against him. She nuzzled his mane that smelled so good and of course was as soft as she suspected.

She let herself feel an ounce of happiness as he licked her forehead and ear. The ounce of happiness ended quickly. There was still the _other_ reason why they couldn't be together, the one that would make their short love story would end the exact way it did two years ago.


End file.
